WATCH: Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman Gives Brilliant Response To Question About Race
Notre Dame Football Head Coach Marcus Freeman stated that he was “grateful” to have the opportunity to be the first black head coach to win a national championship, adding that “color shouldn’t matter.”
Notre Dame will be facing off against Penn State after the Irish pulled off what was arguably the biggest win for the program since the late 1980’s by handily defeating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl this past Thursday. Freeman and Penn State Head Coach James Franklin are both of African American descent, meaning that a black head coach will be leading his time to the College Football Championship for the first time ever.
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Freeman was asked for his thoughts on the historical accomplishment during a press conference ahead of next Thursday’s Orange Bowl clash. “Yeah, it’s, again, you’re very grateful. It’s a reminder that you are a representation for many others and in many of our players that that look the same way I do,” he said. “That, you know, your color shouldn’t matter. And that the evidence of your work should.”
While Notre Dame has been to the National Championship game as recently as 2012, and has made the College Football Playoff twice, the program has largely fallen short in big games. The Irish were blown out by Alabama in 2012, and lost 30-3 to the Clemson Tigers in the 2018 playoff.
Freeman’s squad’s victory over the vaunted Georgia Bulldogs has brought a renewed buzz to the program, however.
Outside football, Freeman has also worked to reinstitute the university’s Catholic traditions, with the most notable change being the reintroduction of pregame Mass. The practice was discontinued under Freeman’s predecessor, Brian Kelly, who took over in 2010.
“I remember as a recruit, seeing the players walking out of the Basilica, from Mass to the stadium. And I thought it was something that was always done until I got here last year and I realized it wasn’t. And so it was something when I became the head coach I didn’t want to change back to. And my reason is because I think back to being a player and you’re so vulnerable those three, four hours before a game,” the coach told the National Catholic Register shortly after landing the job.
Like think about when you have a meeting and your coach gives you a pregame speech, this is hours before a game, like you’re on the edge of your seat, just hanging on to every word that he says. And to me, like what better time to go and have mass? What better time to be able to really be on the edge of your seat to get together? Every word that comes out of the priest’s mouth and to be as close to god as you can.”
“Let’s be calm today before the storm…”
Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman, a convert to Catholicism, talks reinstating Mass before each game…
Interview: National Catholic Register pic.twitter.com/Hc55t5tvgA
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) December 20, 2024
Freeman converted to Catholicism in 2022.
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