With the Notre Dame football team facing the University of Miami to open the season, it will be another year led by head coach Marcus Freeman. While fans predict how the Notre Dame football team will play this season, Freeman speaks on the abundance of players where their fathers are former NFL players.
Freeman would be on “The Pivot Podcast” when speaking about former NFL players' sons committing themselves to the Fighting Irish and the reason for it. Out of the countless names, some include David Fitzgerald, son of Larry Fitzgerald, and Jerome Betis Jr., and even one of the co-hosts on the show Ryan Clark, his son being Jordan.
“I remember that meeting with them, right in front of their dads and said, ‘I failed as a coach if I can't convince you guys that this is the right place for you.’ because you see it in your fathers and everything they've done athletically, but who they are as men now,” Freeman said.
“And the other ones is, I think everyone's different, but I think number one, they all understand that if you're good enough to go to the NFL, you go to Notre Dame and you're going to be able to make the NFL, right?” Freeman continued. “But they also see the value in what else Notre Dame provides.”
Notre Dame football's Marcus Freeman on recruiting strategy
As some like Larry Fitzgerald's son want to build a legacy with the Notre Dame football team, there's no denying that Freeman is a coach that many players want to play for and develop around. Freeman would give more insight into what he tells not just the sons, but the fathers that have played in the NFL.
“I remember having a meeting with Jerome Bettis Jr., Bryce Young, who's Bryant Young's son, James Flanigan, who's on our team,” Freeman said. “And I remember saying, ‘If I can't convince you, whose father went to Notre Dame, that this is the right place for your future athletically, academically, in life, then I've failed as a coach.’”
Other players that have their sons committed or played for Notre Dame include Brian Urlacher, Thomas Davis, Ike Taylor, and more.
At any rate, the Fighting Irish look to further improve after making the national title game last go-around as the season starts on Sunday night against Miami.
