Marcus Freeman Must Make A Bold Move For His Notre Dame Offense

Tommy Rees has made his decision to leave Notre Dame, his alma mater, to become the offensive coordinator at Alabama. Now that Rees has decided to depart the program, head coach Marcus Freeman has a new staff opening. Notre Dame's head coach has an opportunity to make a move that continues to vault the program forward, and to do that he must make strong and decisive moves.

It's a time to be bold.

Freeman needs to do several very important things in order to turn this departure of a young and talented coordinator into a positive. The decisions he makes in coming days and weeks will determine if the Notre Dame program can take advantage of the talented roster he has, and whether or not the Fighting Irish can make a run at a championship in 2023 and beyond.

1. Keep Harry Hiestand - It's no secret that Rees' presence played a role in offensive line coach Harry Hiestand coming back to Notre Dame. With Rees gone it's imperative that Freeman do what it takes to keep Hiestand on campus. Notre Dame is on the verge of doing something very, very special with its offensive line, and Hiestand's presence is a huge part of that. A dominant offensive line is a key ingredient to Notre Dame winning a championship, so keeping Hiestand and line coach Chris Watt in place is a must for putting the line in position to make the big jump I expect it to make.

That also means making sure Hiestand and the new coordinator mesh well. It's true for all the assistants, and my sources indicate that Freeman is very, very high on the current offensive staff, so keeping the group together is key. But Hiestand tops the list.

2. Keep The 2024 Class Together - Freeman and his staff have already reached out to all the 2024 offensive commits, and keeping that group on board is key. This is especially true of elite quarterback CJ Carr and big time wideout Cam Williams.

Irish Breakdown's Ryan Roberts spoke with many of the recruits last night, which you can read HERE.

3. Make A Bold Move To Replace Rees - It was around this time a year ago that Notre Dame unexpectedly lost Lance Taylor (Louisville) and John McNulty (Boston College), who left to become offensive coordinators at other schools. Freeman also made the decision following the 2021 season to replace offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.

To fill the open spots Freeman made some very bold moves. He targeted some of the best coaches in the business to fill those roles. The first year head coach hired Hiestand, known as one of the very best line coaches in the business, and also went out and landed Deland McCullough, which was also a splashy hire of a coach who is considered one of the best in the business.

Hiestand and McCullough both proved that Freeman was wise to make a hard push for them. The Irish line and backfield was outstanding in 2022, and those units are expected to be the team's strengths in 2023. 

To replace Rees, Freeman needs to once again be bold. There will be a lot of names floated around, and there are certainly some names that I'll want and prefer. There isn't just one candidate that can come here and win, but whoever Freeman zeroes in on and ultimately hires has to come from a place of boldness. He must be aggressive, he must be willing to swing for the fences, he must be willing to talk to whoever he must to make the kind of hire to take the offense to the next level.

Notre Dame returns a talented offensive roster, of that I have no doubt. The offensive staff that the new coordinator will inherit is outstanding. All the pieces are in place for Notre Dame to make a run, as long as Freeman can hit a home run with the new coordinator.

Do that and all of a sudden Notre Dame becomes that hot team. The Irish become a legitimate title contender. It's not the only move he needs to make this offseason, but it's now the biggest, and it's the one that will have the biggest impact on the program becoming a title contender.

And that is always the objective at Notre Dame.