Marcus Freeman has clarified his recent comments about scholars at Notre Dame and his alma mater, Ohio State, saying his remarks were more about different school sizes than academic rigors.
The Fighting Irish freshman coach told CBS Sports in an article on Friday that players “can’t fool academics at Notre Dame,” and pointed out the differences between Notre Dame, Ohio State and Cincinnati, where he worked as an assistant. from 2017 to 2020.
“If you don’t go to class [at places like that]OK, take online classes, show up for your appointments,” Freeman said in the CBS Sports article. “At Notre Dame, you’re required to go to class every day.”
Speaking to WBNS radio in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, Freeman said he would ‘never discredit the quality of education’ in the state of Ohio, where he earned two degrees and started his career. coaching as a graduate assistant in 2010. Freeman was an All-Big Ten linebacker for the Buckeyes and will make his regular-season debut as Notre Dame’s coach Sept. 3 when the Fighting Irish visit the State of L ‘Ohio.
“When Marcus Freeman says, ‘You don’t go to class in a place like that,’ it changes the whole narrative,” Freeman told WBNS. “When you really look at what I said exactly, I was talking about if you don’t go to class at these big schools that have 60,000, 40,000 students, OK, you can take classes online. We don’t The majority of our kids can’t take online classes here because it’s a small school and you have to have class attendance. That’s what I wanted to clear up.
Freeman was speaking to WBNS hosts Brandon Beam and Bobby Carpenter, another former Ohio State star linebacker.
“I would never disrespect Ohio State, I would never say you don’t go to class,” Freeman said. “I went to class, I’m sure you [Carpenter] did. We certainly went to class.”
Freeman said Notre Dame graduate assistant James Laurinaitis, an Ohio State All-America linebacker and former teammate, first told Freeman about the attention his early comments had received.
Freeman pointed to Notre Dame’s academic reputation as a selling point, not a disadvantage, in recruiting for the school. ESPN ranks Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2023 No. 1 in the nation, while Ohio State ranks No. 3.
“We approach it head-on and just say, ‘It’s different,'” Freeman said of the Notre Dame experience for athletes. “You won’t be able to stay in an all-sports dorm or apartment complex and you’ll be required to have a roommate, [who] could just be a normal college student, but that roommate could also be a CEO on Wall Street. This roommate could also be someone you will always be connected with.
“And so we have to sell it as a positive, because we can’t change that. We don’t want to change it.”