How one word stood out in Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman’s National Signing Day press conference

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for nearly 50 minutes on National Signing Day. He usually only goes for 30 minutes, max.

There’s much to cover in the world of Fighting Irish football, from 23 high school signees in the recruiting class of 2023 to a new strength coach to a vacant offensive coordinator position. In answering questions about all of those things and more, one word and derivatives of it stood out among all the others.

Compete. Competitor. Competitive. Competitiveness.

Freeman combined to say those four words 18 times in just over 48 minutes. In doing so, he awakened an idea that pervades what he’s trying to accomplish in South Bend. A nine-win regular season isn’t good enough at Notre Dame. There is more out there for the Irish, but it has to be earned. It has to be competed for.

The compete, competitor, competitive and competitiveness count went as follows; three times addressing name, image and likeness (NIL) and what the program is capable of with the help of its collective, Friends of the University of Notre Dame (FUND). Three more times describing incoming freshman quarterback CJ Carr and what his ceiling might be at Notre Dame.

Nine times in one answer when asked what the biggest X-factor often is when having to decide whether to sign one recruit vs. another with nearly identical on-field traits. Freeman’s tiebreaker is often competitiveness, he said.

“Does he practice when he’s injured?” Freeman said. “If you’re a competitor, you don’t want to get bad grades. That’s why I tell our guys, if you’re a competitor, you’re a competitor. You’re a competitor in the classroom. You’re a competitor on the football field.

“And so those, to me, are things that we look for when we say, ‘OK, this guy and this guy are very similar in athleticism, very similar into performance on the football field. How do we find out who’s more competitive? You gotta ask those tough questions.”

Three variations of compete remaining. One went to explaining incoming freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and why he’s the most college-ready recruit of the 23 — why he’ll be able to compete right away. Another went to identifying what Freeman is looking for from transfer portal targets. Competitiveness, of course. And one last time to finish how he started; by reassuring everyone Notre Dame is “as competitive as anybody else in NIL.”

Freeman was on the “Wake Up the Echoes” podcast this week as usual. In a rapid-fire segment he was asked — rather, he posed the question himself — who’s his favorite recruit in this class. He said Carr. And based on Freeman’s description of his young QB, that should make all the sense in the world.

“He’s one of the most competitive guys there is and that’s what you’re looking for,” Freeman said.

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