By: An Apologetic Disgruntled

Alright everybody, I’m 3 homemade margaritas in on a Monday night for some reason and working on a fourth, and I was struck with the desire to provide redress for Marcus Freeman, Al Golden, and my playoff-bound Fighting Irish football team. I’m currently re-watching UConn’s 2^nd signature win of the season over the perennial NCAA tournament 6-10-seed Texas Longhorns. That has absolutely nothing to do with this, other than to say that between both of my favorite sporting programs, it’s shaping up to be a great winter. It is truly amazing what UConn can do when a game is officiated at least somewhat fairly.

I contributed a guest article earlier in the year to Duck On a Rock entitled Guest Columnist Case Study: Notre Dame Football and UConn Basketball, in which I effectively eviscerated the players, coaches, and anyone else even remotely involved with the Notre Dame Football program after their loss to Northern Illinois. I cannot be happier to admit today that I am eating crow (I cannot emphasize enough that this was not a poor attempt at a joke amongst the current nationwide bird-flu contaminated milk epidemic – stay safe everyone. I’m sure this is part of the reason why my cousin has decided to ferment his own egg-nog instead of going store-bought this holiday season). Notre Dame has reeled off an impressive 10 wins in a row to secure their spot in what is sure to be an exciting, action-packed, all-Indiana 1^st round playoff game. For at least tonight, I could not be more gruntled. 

There are a lot of people involved that deserve credit for Notre Dame’s success this season. First and foremost are the players themselves. I specifically called out Riley Leonard after the NIU loss and, while I am completely sure he did not read the article and will not be affected even in an Ashton Kutcher, 6-degrees of separation type of way by a single action I will perform in my entire life, I’d still like to apologize. His decision-making as a passer, his leadership, and his competitive spirit have left his imprint all over Notre Dame’s playoff run this year. Xavier Watts is looking like more of a top-end, first round NFL draft talent every week. Al Golden has also served as a more than competent steward in developing the defense’s injury-riddled roster into an absolute unit. This is all not to mention Jeremiah Love hurdling people like Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone at least twice a game. Like, this is insane – the guy is out of his mind.

But for this guest entry, I’d really like to focus in on Marcus Freeman’s evolution as the head coach of a nationally-renowned program. Marcus has always been a likeable guy, and hasn’t had to face the kind of spirited opposition as other Division I NCAA coaches with more fiery personalities have – say, Dan Hurley, for instance. All of that notwithstanding, Marcus Freeman has faced his fair share of adversity. Tasked with maintaining Notre Dame’s relevancy in the wake of Brian Kelly’s absence – a program reportedly facing a host of “natural limitations”, namely, supposed challenges in recruiting as a result of their elite academic standards and non-alignment with any major NCAA football conference (or specifically, that they don’t belong to the SEC) – Freeman has performed well beyond expectations in all 3 of his preliminary seasons as head coach. 

Comparing Freeman to his peers whom have recently taken over name-brand programs further illustrates how impressive his tenure has been.  After leading the Trojans to the Cotton Bowl in his first season, Lincoln Riley’s teams have sputtered, including a recent loss to Notre Dame courtesy of two 100-yard pick-six returns late in the game. Brian Kelly’s good-ol-boy bayou-style accent has not brought him any good-old-fashioned Les Miles-style success at LSU, failing to make the CFB playoffs in every year of his tenure and resulting in a resounding chant throughout Death Valley earlier this year calling for his head. Boy Genius playcaller Lane Kiffin has not yet been able to reach a conference championship despite Nick Saban’s retirement and the dissolution of the Alabama Dynasty in the SEC. And speaking of Alabama, Kalen DeBoer has performed well in the most competitive conference in college football, but saw his team quite rightfully lose out to SMU for a spot in the CFB playoffs after uncharacteristic losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. 

Amidst the carousel of college football head coaching, Freeman is riding perhaps the highest horse since Rockne’s “Four Horseman”. While maintaining Notre Dame’s relatively middle-of-the-pack recruiting compared to other top national programs (generally ranked 10^th-12^th every year which is largely on par with Kelly’s classes in the latter part of his Notre Dame career), Coach Freeman has nonetheless achieved play-off bound success. What stands out to me as a fan is the player development and rapport he is able to build with every Irish squad, year-in and year-out. For example, one glaring weakness of Notre Dame’s offense last year was their wide receiver corps. Despite weaker talent at the Tight End position and minimal changes at the wide receiver position, Riley Leonard has thrown for almost twice as many yards as he did in 2023. A balanced passing attack via facilitating throws to Harrison, Greathouse, Collins, and Faison has kept opposing defenses guessing. Meanwhile, Freeman and his staff have developed a two-headed monster in Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price at the running back position. The emergence of unlikely heroes such as Christian Gray, filling in at cornerback for the injured Benjamin Morrison, further speaks to the competence of Freeman’s system. And even the harshest of Notre Dame, big-money private school, conference championship weekend-idling haters could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of warmth overcome them as Freeman raised his fist to the slew of Notre Dame faithful in the stands in Southern California, triumphant, in a show of solidarity with, not supremacy over, the team that has gone to battle for him all season. It brings a tear to my eye (or maybe that’s the tequila). He is the most humble. He is the most diligent. He is the (football) Lord our God (excluding Touchdown Jesus). And headed into the parody of the opening rendition of the first, 12-team college football playoffs, with a fallen Alabama and a powerhouse but still potentially vulnerable Georgia (see: loss to Ole Miss, 8OT win against a Georgia Tech team routed by the Irish earlier in the season), Freeman is the perfect man to helm the Irish at a time when I feel like we have our first real shot at a potential championship in my lifetime.

If anything, my only regret from this season was not that I had to suffer the NIU loss as a Notre Dame fan, but that Freeman had to suffer it as our coach. Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, an undefeated regular season was something that Coach Freeman deserved this year. But make no mistake: this was a dream season for Notre Dame Football. Having been born immediately following “The Shot” and UConn’s dream season of 1989-1990, I would know something about them. The resiliency and resolve this Notre Dame team has shown following the most crippling loss the program has faced in recent memory was nothing short of inspiring to witness. Moving onto the playoffs, it is a whole different ballgame. If my UConn fandom has taught me anything, it is this: even the most elite championship programs can’t win it every year. Give it everything you have anyways. Your opponent will feel the pressure; it’s all part of the narrative. Nobody but us believes we can do it. Play with a chip on your shoulder. Don’t surprise, but completely shock everyone with the amount of toughness and heart you bring to the game. There is always the Moneyball-esque element involved in any sport, so just keep the dream alive. And win or lose, fight, fight, fight, you Fightin’ Irish. 

Recipe for “A Cure for Disgruntlement” Pomegranate Cadillac Margarita:

2 oz blanco tequila, preferably not that cheap shit
1 oz freshly squeezed lime or good quality bottled pure lime juice
1/3-1/2 oz 100% fresh-pressed pomegranate juice
½ oz good quality orange liqueur
½ oz light agave nectar (no need for those extra carbs, playboi)
1/3 oz high quality orange liqueur made with cognac (I don’t have the rights to use the brand name but you already know what it is)
1 slice lime (for garnish)
Nicotine Salt (if desired, for garnish, on rim)

Combine tequila, regular orange liqueur not made with cognac, lime juice, pomegranate juice, and low-sugar agave nectar in a shaker over a 3-4 cubes of ice. Shake vigorously for at least a good minute and a half. Make each margarita to order, DO NOT BATCH BY JUST STIRRING ALL THE INGREDIENTS TOGETHER. We want a nice frosty foam coming out onto the top of the drink when you pour it out, which can only be achieved by shaking up each drink on its own. Wet the edge of the rim of your glass, perhaps with a paper towel – not too wet, just a little moisture. Break open 1 lip pillow of 6mg nicotine salt pouch, put on a plate and gently dab the rim of the glass into the raw nicotine salt, if desired. Pour the contents of shaker into the glass, which you have now put 3-4 cubes of ice into (after the step involving the nicotine salt). With care, drizzle high quality orange liqueur made with cognac over the top of the drink (i.e., it’s a floater). Make a small cut halfway down the slice of lime and use as garnish on lip of glass. Squeeze lime garnish into drink as desired for more acidity. Enjoy while watching Notre Dame take on Indiana, Friday, December 20^th at 8pm as part of the first round of the inaugural College Football Playoffs.