The story is Fickell let it be known he was not leaving UC till they finish the playoffs, if they get in. 

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

The story is Fickell let it be known he was not leaving UC till they finish the playoffs, if they get in. 

No surprise there. 

Congrats Marcus!!  Just a kid from Huber Heights, now coaching ND.

31 minutes ago, John Anthony said:

Congrats Marcus!!  Just a kid from Huber Heights, now coaching ND.

I hope it's not a repeat of Jerry Faust.

8 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

I hope it's not a repeat of Jerry Faust.

I don't see it being that bad.  Mainly because he is on a natural progression, although a little fast tracked.  Jerry Faust went from high school head coach to head coach at Notre Dame.

And if it does go bad it will all be blamed on Brian Kelly.  

37 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

I hope it's not a repeat of Jerry Faust.

Marcus is a great recruiter, so he will get the players.  The question will be... can he run a program?  I'm sure there may be bumps initially but I'm happy about the hire.  Although I was hoping he might go back to Columbus as the D coordinator.  

11 hours ago, REALSPORT said:

Marcus is a great recruiter, so he will get the players.  The question will be... can he run a program?  I'm sure there may be bumps initially but I'm happy about the hire.  Although I was hoping he might go back to Columbus as the D coordinator.  

Marcus time spent under Fickell will really help him with this next move. A lot of the progression we have seen from Freeman these past 3 or 4 years had a lot to do with what he learned and picked up each year while helping Fick build UC in to what it is today. 

He is going to have plenty of talent to work with and was able to keep a lot of the staff in place. That is a great start for continuity.

 

 

As a UC and ND fan, I like this hire. UC gets to keep Fickell for the time being, and Freeman gets an opportunity to lead ND. 
From what I’ve been reading over the past couple days, the players and fans really wanted Freeman to take over the program. Regardless of personal feelings towards Kelly, he did elevate the program to be in the mix each year. Hopefully Freeman can continue that and take it one step further. The one thing that eluded Kelly over the years was an elite QB. Hopefully Freeman can bring them in.

With the rest of the staff returning intact, Freeman will be able to hit the ground running. Hopefully that continuity will help compensate for the lack of head coaching experience. We know he can recruit and he's got proven recruiters now working under him. The talent level at Notre Dame is on the uptick. There's a lot to be optimistic about.

Just watched a video of him being introduced to the team. The players’ reactions tell you all you need to know about the hire.