'You're going to see in the 2023 recruiting cycle. 'We're going to bridge the gap from what's challenging here - the location that we're in and how hard it is to do the classwork here - to the relationships going to build from the top down,' Elston said. Elston elected to remain on Freeman's staff despite a chance to join Kelly at LSU. 'I want these guys to be able to access me at all times, communicate with me directly on my phone and understand that this is going to be a very personable relationship.'ĭefensive line coach Mike Elston, the team's recruiting coordinator, said Freeman's recruiting prowess shouldn't be measured in the 2022 class, even though he made an impact at positions such as linebacker, where Notre Dame signed Jaylen Sneed, Niuafe Tuihalamaka and others.

'Having an authentic relationship, a personal relationship, not this figure that's inaccessible,' Freeman said when asked what a head coach's role in recruiting needs to be. His predecessor, Brian Kelly, had been known more as a delegator in recruiting, although Notre Dame consistently signed classes ranked in ESPN's top 15 nationally during his last few years. I'm going to be involved with every single recruit that we're involved with, and I want to be the bridge between myself and the position coaches and coordinators, 'Hey, you're going to utilize the head coach in whatever way you need.''įreeman said Notre Dame previously divided recruiting responsibilities between offense and defense, but he now wants to approach the process more collectively. 'I've made that very clearly known to staff. 1 thing is I have to be the lead recruiter for every recruit,' Freeman said Wednesday. 6, Freeman, 35, said he spent time in 14 states and traveled about 8,000 miles as he aimed to keep the class together and build relationships, especially with the recruits on offense. 6 nationally, despite a few signing day targets heading elsewhere.Īfter his introductory news conference as head coach Dec. 3 after a season as the Fighting Irish's defensive coordinator, on Wednesday introduced Notre Dame's recruiting class, which features 21 prospects. New Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman plans to be 'the lead recruiter' on every prospect and will take an active, accessible role in the program's future pursuits of top players.įreeman, promoted to lead the program Dec.

Marcus freeman notre dame