For all of the progress Notre Dame has made under Marcus Freeman, one issue has lingered: slow starts. Whether it’s early in games or early in seasons, the Irish haven’t consistently played their best football right out of the gate. And in a sport where margins are thin and expectations are high, that has mattered. This spring, Freeman is taking aim at one of the biggest remaining weaknesses in his program.
The results tell the story.
In 2022, Notre Dame opened with a competitive loss at Ohio State before an inexplicable home loss to Marshall the following week. In 2023, the Irish fell to Ohio State again in September – a game remembered as much for the loss as for the infamous 10-men-on-the-field breakdown on the Buckeyes’ game-winning touchdown. In 2024, Notre Dame rebounded from a stunning loss to Northern Illinois after opening the season with a win at Texas A&M, ultimately recovering to make the College Football Playoff. And in 2025, back-to-back losses to start the season proved too much to overcome, even as the Irish dominated much of the remaining schedule.
The pattern is clear. Under Freeman, Notre Dame has yet to go undefeated through September.
Freeman isn’t running from that reality. He’s attacking it head-on.
“How do we find a way to start faster?” Freeman said this week. “That’s a general term… start fast in a game, start fast in a season. Okay, we know we want to do that, but what is our process?”
That question, not the result, is what’s driving Notre Dame’s offseason.
“Start faster” is the goal – fixing the process is the plan
Freeman was quick to acknowledge that “start faster” can’t just be a talking point. It’s easy to say, but much harder to define and execute. That’s why the focus has shifted to process.
“Start fast in a game, start fast in a season… but what is our process?” Freeman repeated, emphasizing that the answer isn’t about motivation — it’s about structure.
Instead of chasing outcomes, Notre Dame is trying to identify the specific steps that lead to them. That includes how the team trains, how it practices, and how it prepares week to week.
No more excuses – Notre Dame owns last season
If there was any doubt about the tone of that approach, Freeman removed it quickly.
“We left doubt. We sleep in the bed that we make that we left doubt that we should be in the playoffs.”
There was no mention of the CFP committee. No pointing to outside factors. Just ownership.
“It’s so easy to blame somebody. Let’s blame the CFP committee,” Freeman said. “But when we own it. Then I think you can use it.”
Instead of looking outward for explanations, Notre Dame is turning inward, using last season as motivation rather than justification.
Freeman is evaluating everything
That internal focus has led to a full evaluation of the program.
“Let’s evaluate our process over the past four years in terms of what we’ve done – in terms of the weight room, what we’ve done in terms of practicing, some of the analytical numbers, and really challenge those things to hopefully produce a better result.”
Nothing is off limits. From strength and conditioning to practice structure to the team’s use of data, Freeman is taking a comprehensive look at what has worked and what hasn’t.
This isn’t about tweaking around the edges. It’s about ensuring every part of the program aligns with the goal of improving performance when it matters most.
“Leave no doubt” — the new internal standard
Out of that evaluation has come a clear message to the team: leave no doubt.
“I want it more than anything to be an everyday mindset that we leave no doubt that we made the most of what we had today,” Freeman said.
It’s a simple phrase, but one with real implications.
“Why am I not playing? You left doubt. Why am I not the starter? You left doubt.”
Freeman made it clear that those questions won’t be answered by coaches alone.
“We’re not going to make the decision – you make the decision.”
In other words, performance removes debate. If a player leaves no doubt, there’s no argument to be had.
It all comes back to one of Freeman’s core beliefs
That standard ties directly to one of Freeman’s most tried-and-true philosophies: choosing hard.
“You’ve got to choose hard every day. You’ve got to choose to struggle.”
That idea goes beyond football. It’s about embracing the uncomfortable parts of development – the daily grind that ultimately leads to improvement. It’s also a message Freeman has reiterated countless times in discussions of his philosophy on recruiting at Notre Dame. Instead of using the challenges of Notre Dame as an excuse the way his predecessor did, and continues to do, he has embraced them and used them to challenge the players enrolling at Notre Dame before they ever even step foot on campus.
“First, you’ve got to believe that. Then you’ve got to be willing to do it.”
Freeman didn’t limit that expectation to players.
“How can I find ways as a leader of this program to be uncomfortable every day?” he said, pointing to his own responsibility in driving growth.
Real changes are already happening this spring
This isn’t just a new cliche or coachspeak. It’s already showing up in how Notre Dame is operating this spring. Freeman pointed to adjustments in practice structure, including more competitive periods and less gradual ramp-up.
“We’re going to do more football – more good on good,” he said.
At the same time, there’s a balance to strike.
“We have to practice in a way that we have to develop as a team, but also you want to prevent as many injuries as you can.”
That balance doesn’t mean dialing things back.
“You can’t practice soft and expect your team to be prepared for what’s ahead.”
Instead, it means being intentional and maximizing development without sacrificing availability. Given Notre Dame has an even lengthier than normal injury report for this spring that balance might be difficult to find, but it’s an adjustment that can be made because of some of the continuity that exists in the program that hasn’t been there in previous years under Freeman.
Why this time could be different
All of these changes are happening within a different kind of offseason. Notre Dame enters spring with continuity at coordinator, stability at quarterback, and a full winter training period – all factors that should help eliminate some of the inconsistencies of previous years.
For the first time in Freeman’s tenure, the Irish aren’t spending spring installing something new on at least one side of the football. They’re building.
That doesn’t guarantee a faster start. But it removes many of the reasons for a slow one.
The goal isn’t just improvement – it’s execution
Ultimately, Freeman isn’t looking for incremental progress. He’s looking for results.
“We won’t know until you go out there and play, but we’re challenging everything to hopefully produce a better result.”
That’s the key. This isn’t about hoping things improve. It’s about identifying why they haven’t and eliminating those issues before the season even begins.
Notre Dame isn’t just trying to start faster. It’s trying to make sure there’s no reason it doesn’t.
