SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ah, the postseason. A time of year when college football news slows, players and coaches recharge and everyone can devote themselves to preparing for a bowl game.
Right.
The past week has been a volatile one for Notre Dame and this may be the new default setting as the transfer portal opens and the Irish search for a new receivers coach. Naturally, you’ve got questions about all that.
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The mailbag tackles the receivers, head coach learning curves and exactly how many transfers Notre Dame plans to take (and at what positions).
Let’s get started.
Why the about-face from Marcus Freeman stressing the importance of offensive continuity, then letting go of Chansi Stuckey shortly after? Also, how much of the wide receiver roster issue this season falls on Stuckey? The cupboard was quite bare following Del Alexander, and while I would have liked to have seen more growth from Tobias Merriweather I would say the wide receiver recruiting the last two cycles has been strong. — Quinn O.
From a process point of view, it’s difficult to understand why Freeman handled the situation like he did. Either he wasn’t honest on Monday when he pushed the idea of consistency or he didn’t know the receivers weren’t developing. The former wouldn’t be the first time a head coach wasn’t completely truthful in the media (a professional hazard, I get it). The latter would be a red flag of program management. Neither are good outcomes, but the first option is palatable. The second would give me concerns that go well beyond whether Merriweather is developing or not.
You’re right that the roster situation Stuckey inherited was a disaster, which the coaching staff knew. The receivers didn’t take the full step forward Notre Dame needed with Sam Hartman, which feels wasteful considering the investment in the graduate transfer quarterback. How much of that is on Stuckey? Some, for sure. But didn’t Chris Tyree go from a bit part to a lead role this season? Much of that credit goes to Tyree, but Stuckey helped. Stuckey had Jaden Greathouse and Rico Flores ready to go against Navy. Yes, they came from sophisticated offenses in high school, but that’s not enough to get a freshman wide receiver prepped for college. When injuries devastated the position — Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie, Matt Salerno, Greathouse — it made a bad situation almost unworkable. Merriweather clearly did not develop, but it’s not like Stuckey didn’t keep giving him chances despite very little return on that investment of reps.
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So yes, the cupboard was quite picked over the past couple of years. For a freshman to lead the receivers in snaps is not healthy. Oddly, the biggest mistake Stuckey made was with a player who didn’t see a snap. Notre Dame needed Kaleb Smith from Virginia Tech to be a reliable boundary receiver for Hartman. Instead, he walked away from football in April.
What makes the decision on Stuckey even more perplexing is that his recruiting was at a level that was getting Notre Dame closer to having a College Football Playoff-caliber receiver room. And he recruited into the headwinds of a run-first offense where receivers had just one 100-yard game over two years and quarterbacks finished with less than 200 yards passing roughly half the time. And his evaluation of the freshman class appears to have hit on Flores, Greathouse and Faison. That’s a good conversion rate, even if Braylon James was a huge miss. Sources indicated during spring practice that James was incredibly raw and wouldn’t factor this fall. He didn’t.
Freshman wide out Braylon James into the transfer portal, following the departures of Chris Tyree and Tobias Merriweather this week. https://t.co/Ob0sVcOB5X
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 30, 2023
Look, there are three sides to every story. I’ve heard some version of all of them this week (and a few others). And it’s still hard to figure out exactly what happened.
Bottom line, Notre Dame shouldn’t have a hard time attracting a quality wide receivers coach. But it’s going to have a hell of a time rebuilding a quality wide receiver room because of this move.
How would you rate Freeman’s learning curve through two regular seasons? When he was hired, I think we all knew he’d have to grow into the position a bit, but curious to get your perspective if he’s about where you think he should be, a little ahead, or a little behind, and why. — Eric D.
Interesting question.
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In some ways, Freeman feels like he’s close to where he should be on the head coaching learning curve. He’s struggled with some operational issues (including a huge one against Ohio State), how to use timeouts at the end of halves, when to be aggressive/when to not. He’s already coached through some crisis losses and come out the other side. After struggling against lesser opponents during his first season, Freeman figured out how to blow most of them out this fall. He gets Notre Dame to peak at home against big-name opponents. He struggles to get the Irish ready on the road. He’s figured out how to embrace Notre Dame and have this place embrace him back. And he’s learned in two years what took Brian Kelly nearly five — as much as you need elite talent to win at Notre Dame, that you cannot take elite talent that doesn’t fit (or want to fit) Notre Dame.
The issue for Freeman is that the learning curve keeps changing in real time. The transfer portal, NIL, the College Football Playoff, roster management … the entire sport is struggling to adapt. It’s no surprise Freeman has made some mistakes there, too. Because everybody is making them, short of Kirby Smart. It’s like Freeman is putting together this puzzle of what it’s like to be a head coach, but the puzzle keeps adding pieces.
I think it’s pretty clear where Freeman thrives as a head coach and where he still needs to grow. His emotional intelligence is high. The good news for Notre Dame is Freeman knows his own strengths and weaknesses in terms of game management. I would expect Notre Dame to attempt to make a hire to help there.
Did Freeman grow as a head coach in Year 2? Absolutely. Does he need to grow even more in Year 3? Absolutely.
Any update on the new strength coach? Did Freeman intentionally wait until after the season so there are more candidates? — Tim C.
Freeman said he’d conduct interviews for the strength coach position after the season, which is now.
Notre Dame will cast a wide net for this. Freeman wants more of a new-school strength coach who understands the demands on the players, physically and time-wise. This isn’t a criticism of Matt Balis, just an observation that Notre Dame will lean more into working smarter than working harder.
One early candidate that hit Notre Dame’s radar was Andrew Althoff of the Carolina Panthers, who is officially “director of human performance,” overseeing strength training, nutrition and sports science. While Althoff won’t be making the move to Notre Dame, his multidisciplinary background may offer a clue about what Notre Dame is looking for in the post.
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I don’t expect interim strength coach Fred Hale to get the job, although he’s done enough to earn an interview.
Notre Dame plays LSU in a bowl game and you attend another press conference featuring Brian Kelly. What’s the first question you’d like to ask him? — Mike E.
I need more time to formulate my question. I’m overwhelmed by ideas.
The ReliaQuest Bowl really could sell tickets to that press conference. Incredible theater.
Will the offensive coordinator position end up defining Marcus Freeman’s tenure as Notre Dame’s head coach? — Lamine H.
We’re in the process of finding that out right now.
When Freeman missed on Andy Ludwig and Collin Klein a year ago, then moved forward with Gerad Parker, it set the tone for the season. It may set the tone for Freeman’s entire run as Notre Dame’s head coach. Either Parker is going to prove a lot of people wrong next season — and let’s not pretend Notre Dame’s offense has been a disaster when it currently ranks in the top 10 in scoring and yards per play — or the offense will fail to progress and put Freeman under incredible pressure at a time when the head coach should be coming up for a contract extension.
To be reductive about it, either Notre Dame takes a step forward next season and Freeman earns an extension or the Irish are stuck (or regress) and he doesn’t. And whichever end game Freeman hits, how Parker rebuilds the offense, potentially with just three opening-day starters returning, will inform it.
The most important decisions that head coaches make are coordinator hires. They’re the reason Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame had a second act. It’s the reason why Freeman’s first defenses as head coach have been so good. It’s got to be the reason why the offense finds another gear next season.
I’m trying to make the math work. Twenty-three incoming scholarship freshmen. A certain number of transfers/graduations will happen, but how many transfers in and how players pushed out you think gets to the 85 next season? — Brendan R.
It would surprise me if Notre Dame got into any danger of the 85-man limit, although it would be a positive development if it did.
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According to a program source, the plans for the transfer portal call for seven incoming players: quarterback, two receivers, offensive tackle, defensive end and two defensive backs. That could fluctuate depending on some other departures, but it’s difficult to see Notre Dame not going for at least those seven.
If Notre Dame added those seven players and lost the players expected to go (think everybody already in the portal, plus NFL jumps like Joe Alt, Audric Estime, etc.), that would barely put the Irish over the 85-man limit, which doesn’t need to be accommodated until the fall. If they lost anybody else unexpectedly, and at this point that feels more likely than not, they would drop back to the 85-man limit, if not below it.
In other words, the math will work.
What’s your eligibility status to play wide receiver in the bowl game? — Matthew R.
My scouting report: big catch radius but inconsistent hands, unable to separate from defensive backs (or IPAs) but generally a good locker room guy. I’m down for 30 snaps. Could have an opportunity to try that double reverse pass in the red zone.
Can an argument be made to let CJ Carr earn the starting job next season rather than bringing in a transfer quarterback? With the transfer portal, are the days of seeing a freshman play quarterback at Notre Dame a thing of the past? — Joseph S.
Freeman has articulated privately that this will be the last time Notre Dame goes into the portal for a quarterback in the near term. A year from now it’s the CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey show, although rarely do things go according to plan at the position. Tyler Buchner was supposed to be the quarterback Notre Dame had been missing, after Phil Jurkovec was supposed to be the same thing along with Brandon Wimbush. Somewhere in there, Ian Book won 30 games.
But that’s not your question.
There is an argument Notre Dame would be better off rolling the dice with Steve Angeli, Minchey or Carr this season instead of investing in Duke transfer Riley Leonard as a one-and-done (that NIL money could be spent elsewhere). However, accepting that argument means accepting Notre Dame is going to lose games for the sake of quarterback development. Does it make sense to miss the College Football Playoff because you went young at quarterback with no guarantee that youth will ultimately be served (or not transfer)? It does not.
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Teams like Notre Dame just aren’t allowed to lose. There are no rebuilding seasons, only seasons that put the head coach on the hot seat and nix contract extensions. I understand what you’re asking in the abstract, but in the reality of college football when a quarterback like Leonard can upgrade the position, you pull the trigger and upgrade. Multiple sources have indicated that the Leonard commitment is done.
If that makes winning it all with Carr less likely in 2026, so be it. There’s not really a choice anymore. You enhance the most important position in football. You do it now. And you figure out how to win later later. And that’s assuming you even get a later in the first place.
(Photo: Michael Miller / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
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