Marcus Freeman Talks Strength Coach, Sam Hartman, JD Bertrand, Receiver Production

It’s not uncommon for college football teams to have an interim coach. Texas A&M will have one for the rest of the season after Jimbo Fisher was fired last week. Heck, Michigan has had multiple interims this season with Jim Harbaugh serving multiple suspensions by the NCAA and the Big Ten.

Notre Dame has had an interim strength and performance coach all season after the abrupt departure of Matt Balis just as training camp was preparing to open in July. Fred Hale took over after Balis resigned and with the season beginning to wind down, Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman will soon have to decide if Hale will keep the position going forward or if he will bring in a replacement from the outside to fill the role.

"That’s something I’ll probably start focusing on in depth as we finish up this season,” Freeman indicated on Thursday. "We have a great one in-house that has done a great job. Fred’s done a really great job of continuing to lead our strength and conditioning. Our team has really done a great job with our current players in terms of getting them through the in-season process. But as I’ve told him as and I told our entire program, I will really focus on that as soon as we get done with the Stanford game in terms of what direction we’re going to continue to move forward in as we get through this current regular season, prepare for our bowl game and then as we get to the winter conditioning phase for next year.”

What Has Sam Hartman Done For Notre Dame?

Sam Hartman came to Notre Dame from Wake Forest with the expectation of elevating quarterback play in the wake of up and down performances by Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne last season. Pyne and Buchner combined for 25 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions last season and Hartman has 18 touchdowns with eight interceptions through 10 games this year. But Freeman sees other things that Hartman has brought to the program in his one year on campus.

"He’s been so consistent in terms of his approach to the game,” Freeman began. "He has done some really great things for our football program in terms of not just on the field but off the field in terms of how he’s really elevated the preparation and the play of the quarterback room. His ability to meet with the wide outs to make sure everybody’s on the same page. He’s just brought a lot of things to our program that sometimes you just don’t always see on Saturday.”

What Has Notre Dame Done For Hartman?

"I hope the ability to know another offense,” Freeman said. "The ability for him having to learn a new system, a new coaching staff, adapt and adjust and get out of his comfort zone a little bit is something that I think he would be able to say, hey Notre Dame provided for me and another way of running a program. Obviously, I don’t know the ins and outs of how (Wake Forest) Coach (Dave) Clawson runs his program, but again it’s going to be different just because the head coach and the place is different. Listen, we’re very grateful for having Sam a part of this team. We’re grateful that he chose this program and we’re going to miss him tremendously.”

On JD Bertrand

JD Bertrand currently leads the Irish with 63 tackles this season. The fifth-year linebacker has been Notre Dame’s leading tackler in each of the previous two years as well since moving into the starting lineup in 2021. He could still return for one more year of eligibility next year.

"JD plays with tremendous physicality, tremendous production,” Freeman said of the Alpharetta, Ga. native. "He gives you everything he has. You always appreciate a guy that just plays the game, sacrifices his body no matter how he feels. At times, you almost want to protect him. But what he’s done off the field in terms of how to set a standard for how to prepare. I use him all the time. When I got here as a defensive coordinator in 2021, JD Bertrand was the third string linebacker and he had very few reps in 2020. I remember that he was one of the first guys that reached out to me and asked me to meet. At first, you’re able to meet with him and you’re new and then over time you’re like, man, every day this guy wants to meet, and you don’t have a lot of time as you’re trying to install a defense. But no matter what time I told JD Bertrand I could meet with him he was there.

"I used that as an example even this week in terms of, you don’t know when the opportunity for you will present itself, but JD Bertrand didn’t care for the opportunity,” Freeman continued. "He just wants to continue to get better and continue to put in the work and preparation so that when the opportunity presented itself, he was ready to go.”

A Wide Receiver Conundrum

Consistent production from Notre Dame’s wide receivers has been an issue this season. What has complicated the matter is Chris Tyree, Jayden Thomas, Jade Greathouse, and Jordan Faison are among the team’s most productive receivers, but they have all produced better working out of the slot. The problem is, someone has to play and produce on the outside.

"That’s the common theme (in) the conversations I’ve had with our offensive staff is that because an individual is maybe suited for a certain position that we have depth at, we have to be creative in finding ways to get that person or those people on a field on the field to have success,” Freeman explained. "Like, what are their skillsets and how can we utilize them in different positions? Maybe I’m not a tall, long receiver that you usually look for on the outside but they have a skillset that if we feel like they’re one of our best then we’ve got to find a way to get them on the field at the same time. But then ask them to do things that they’re suited for.

"That’s to me always the challenge is that you don’t have a system that you fit this certain individual into that position,” Freeman continued. “It’s okay, get your best 11. How can I find ways to put them in different positions? Shift, motion, the offense and defense, right. But to get them on the field and create a system or a structure that has your best players on the field and I think that’s the great challenge in coaching. Going back to my defensive coordinator days, I didn’t like the idea of recruiting to just a position. I like to recruit to talent level and to really adapt whatever I was doing as the defensive coordinator around that talent level. Because you can’t have your best players on the sideline because they’re three deep at one position. To me you‘ve got to be creative and put those guys on the field and realize what their strong suits are and put them in a position to be successful. To me, the best coaches find a way to do that.”