Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman Shares Crucial Advice for His Players Seeking to End 37 Years of Trophy Drought

Notre Dame is one of the most prestigious college football programs in the United States—and one of the oldest, with their first season having been played in 1887. They’ve won 961 games in total, which is tied with Texas for 4th all-time, and they’ve claimed 11 National Championships, which is 5th-most all-time.

However, while the other big dogs surrounding them on that list—Alabama, USC, Ohio State, Michigan—have all won a Natty at some point in the 20th century, the Fighting Irish haven’t won one since 1988. That’s a 37-year drought that current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman simply can’t ignore.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity. The reality is that it’s been since 1988 since this program has won a National Championship. But every year since then, the goal is to win a National Championship. Just because you haven’t won doesn’t mean that the goal doesn’t change each season. We’ve done a good enough job to now be in this position. We know if we win, we got a chance to be National Champions,” the head coach told Chris Fowler (via ESPN).

While it’s clear that this 2024 Notre Dame team won’t be able to escape the drought-ender narratives, Freeman and his staff have to do their best to keep their team focused.

If the Notre Dame Fighting Irish players start thinking about the magnitude of the moment, they will falter. For Marcus Freeman and company, it’s all about focusing on the task at hand. “Win this play”, then move on to the next.

“But what I don’t want our group to do is put unnecessary pressure on themselves. Our job is to go out there and reach our full potential and our job is to go out there and win this play. If you do that well enough, and the result of that is winning, then guess what, you’ll be called National Champions. But don’t add unnecessary pressure of being the team to end this drought of National Titles, because that’s not gonna help you win this game, it’s gonna be the execution.”

It’s sound advice from Marcus Freeman, who is now in his fourth year at the helm in South Bend. However, it may be challenging for both the players and the staff to follow it to a tee.

Interestingly, Freeman has a ton of connections to his team’s National Championship opponents. Freeman played linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2004 to 2008, and he also started his coaching career there as a graduate assistant in 2010.

You can imagine that this game will mean that much more to Freeman considering that history he has with the Buckeyes program. It’s going to be a real uphill battle, however, as the Fighting Irish come into this one as massive +8.5 underdogs to Ohio State.

They will need to focus on the moment, as Freeman said. But, they’ll also need to adhere to their smash-mouth football strategy of hard-hitting and running the ball.

Legendary Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz—who led the Fighting Irish to their most recent National Championship in 1988 during his tenure in South Bend from 1986 to 1996—agrees that Notre Dame needs to “trust the process” that got them here.

“Ohio State has the talent, but Notre Dame has the heart, the culture, and the defense to win this game. Stay patient, run the football, and trust the process. Notre Dame wins a close one—by 3. Remember, we’re Notre Dame and they ain’t!”

Holtz’s confidence is encouraging. No doubt Marcus Freeman is communicating similar levels of tenacity to boost morale for the underdogs in this year’s National Championship game. Notre Dame will try to shock the world and end their drought on Monday night. The game kicks off at 7:30PM at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.