Although it helps that Freeman is a better/more aggressive recruiter than Kelly, "connecting" with high level recruits wasn't the key determinant for his selection.
Freeman was hired because a) he has some positive attributes that indicated he would be a good head coach, b) had it not been an internal like Freeman/Rees, it would have killed at least 2 years of recruiting simply from a continuity standpoint (Note: Fickel would have been the head coach had JW had been willing to wait) and c) taking a flyer on an existing head coach that was interested in ND poses its own set of risks and we know JW chooses the easy path. You never know if guy you think would fit in will. Freeman was a known guy who already fit and ND isn't not an easy fit.
We all knew that Kelly was a lazy recruiter that settled for kids easier to recruit because it was easier. He was only marginally better in this regard than Ty who never chased anyone and thought recruits would come to him.
Now that Freeman isn't saddled with a highly inexperienced OC that wasn't of his choosing and he has another year of experience as head coach, I would think that on-the field product will be improved.