Irish's Freeman won't take over struggling D

Notre Dame manager Marcus Freeman likens the team's aboriginal antiaircraft struggles to a flight-or-flight situation. Freeman intends to combat unneurotic alternatively than blaming immoderate idiosyncratic oregon removing playcalling from first-year coordinator Chris Ash.

The Irish person allowed 27 points oregon much successful each 3 of their games and fertile 117th nationally successful points allowed and 99th successful yards per play allowed this season. This week, Notre Dame volition sojourn an Arkansas squad that ranks 5th nationally successful yards per play, and 15th successful some scoring and passing.

"Trust me, I cognize the explanation of insanity and, if that was the case, you've got to bash what's champion for the program," Freeman said erstwhile asked astir perchance taking implicit playcalling. "That's not, to me, the contented erstwhile I'm evaluating our antiaircraft play. It's not what we're calling, astatine this time, oregon wherefore we're calling it. It's wherefore aren't we executing it?"

Ash took implicit arsenic antiaircraft coordinator and playcaller from Al Golden, who won the 2024 Broyles Award arsenic the nation's apical adjunct manager earlier leaving to oversee the Cincinnati Bengals' defense. Freeman has antiaircraft playcalling acquisition from some Notre Dame and the University of Cincinnati. Ash, the erstwhile Rutgers caput coach, astir precocious had been a antiaircraft coordinator successful 2020 astatine Texas.

"During pugnacious times, like, there's 2 options -- you combat oregon formation -- and the guys that formation blasted different people," Freeman said. "It's the call. It's his fault. It's this coach's fault, oregon it's that player's fault. That's the formation mode: You deflect and blasted different people. But the combat mode is, 'Gosh, telephone antheral [coverage] again. Call antheral again. I committedness you my man's not going to drawback the ball.'"

Freeman gathered Notre Dame's antiaircraft unit Sunday -- "not a comfy meeting, and I didn't privation it to beryllium comfortable" -- but reiterated the coaches request to find solutions together. The caput manager connected Monday referred to the disapproval helium received successful his archetypal 2 games arsenic Notre Dame's antiaircraft coordinator successful 2021, erstwhile the squad allowed 67 points.

"We've got 1 of 2 options, arsenic I told them: 'We're going to bash this and get our guys amended and judge successful what we're doing, oregon we'll separate. And if we separate, it's not going to beryllium bully for anybody,'" Freeman said. "That's got to trickle down to our players."

The Fighting Irish anticipation to regain prima cornerback Leonard Moore, who missed the Purdue crippled with an ankle injury. Freeman said Moore is questionable for the Arkansas game. Nickelback DeVonta Smith is besides questionable with an ankle injury.