Starting with "Freeman is in over his head" and "we should have hired an experienced head coach." Clemson fans said the exact same things about Dabo. Smart, Day and Riley also succeeded as first-time coaches.
Those who said we should have hired (pick a name) - yeah, let's watch at least two recruiting classes fall apart.
As for how Freeman is coaching...none of us have ANY idea what's actually happening within the program or even on the sideline.
Another inaccurate narrative is the defense has many "problems." Really? Do you actually, really WATCH any other games? Alabama gave up 52. "Poor" tackling is everywhere...meaning it's harder than you give it credit for. Funny how the ND defense has given up so few points despite being horrendously flawed.
The ONLY problem is the offense. It isn't a "lack of passion" or anything else. A TD was negated because Tyree lined up incorrectly. Estime fumbled on what probably would have been the game-winning drive. A replay incorrectly overturned a fumble recovery. But the main issue is Rees. Garrett mentioned he's unguardable in practice and he sure looked like it on his TD. Why isn't he playing more and getting lots of targets? That's on Rees. And he keeps running too many plays that have no chance. That's not on Pyne or the players.
No, Freeman isn't mistake-free. But to say ND would have won 17-16 if he had kicked the FG early is absurd. The whole rest of the game would have been different. But I will say Gerad Parker, who was an OC, should be given a role in playcalling, even if the title is unofficial. Freeman can at least do that.
You are right. No one knows for sure what is going on inside the program except those in it, coaches, players, etc.
Everyone in the outside can only judge from what we see and the results on the field.
Yes there are plenty of examples of successful first time coaches. That still does not take away from the fact that Freeman still looks lost in the sidelines and losses keep mounting. players haven’t developed, QB play sucks, and lack of fundamentals like tackling is apparent to even the casual observer.
From what we have seen so far, he seems like he is in over his head
There are so many signs of this that it is not an opinion but a fact. He is a spectator on the sidelines. Offensively, I don't think he has a clue as to what is going on. He looks lost and nervous. He says in his post game presser that the scheme was not the problem but the execution was. He has no input whatsoever. A few more games like this and he will have lost the team, if he hasn't already lost it.
He is a great person, a Notre Dame man, and a wonderful recruiter. But as a head coach, he is failing miserably. He is in way over his head.
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They are horrendous on 3rd and long, the blitz scheme is terrible and personnel needs a little tweaking. Those should be easy fixes if Golden is willing or forced to change.
Agree that Parker should be calling the plays. The offense is a dumpster fire. Teaching is obviously poor too. Pyne is put in bad situations but, he is not very good either.
team in over a year. ND was favored by a combined 38 points in those two losses. ND has played perhaps 3 quality quarters of football. I'm not saying Freeman is in over his head. I'm not saying he shouldn't have been hired. I am saying there is something seriously wrong inside the program right now, and it needs to be fixed fast for a myriad of reasons.
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