Notre Dame’s head coach had plenty of praise for the Clemson football program ahead of Saturday’s game between the Tigers and Irish.
Marcus Freeman, who’s in his second full season as the head man in South Bend, made it clear he has no shortage of respect for what Dabo Swinney has built and accomplished at Clemson.
“I view Clemson as one of the premier programs in college football,” Freeman said, via Irish Sports Daily. “What Coach Swinney has done with that program over the course of his time there has been second to no other program in college football. It’s extremely impressive. They’ve recruited at a high level. They have an unbelievable culture and they play at a high level.”
Freeman spoke about what he’s seen over the years when watching a Clemson program that earned six straight playoff berths from 2015-20, made four national championship game appearances during that run and won national titles in 2016 and 2018.
“Talented individuals who play extremely hard. National champions,” Freeman said of Swinney’s program. “He has a great resume that you’re a fool if you don’t try to emulate some of that. What is Clemson doing really well that could help this program continue to enhance? I want people to watch Notre Dame football and say those guys play really hard. That’s the greatest compliment a coach can receive is that his guys play extremely hard and extremely physical.
“The second part is I want them to see great football players on the field, which speaks to recruiting. That’s what I see when I watch Clemson football.”
Freeman added that he’s trying not to let the Tigers’ record this season fool the Irish about the type of team they will see on the field at Death Valley.
“That’s what I want to make sure everybody in our program understands. Don’t let the 4-4 record reflect the team,” Freeman said. “Just watch the film. They are as talented as any team we’ve faced this year across the board. We have to understand it.”
Saturday’s game between the Irish (7-2) and Tigers (4-4) is set to kick off at noon and will be televised on ABC.
–Quotes courtesy of Matt Freeman, Irish Sports Daily
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