Takeaways from Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman’s pre-spring presser

Notre Dame football’s spring practice is right around the corner, in fact it starts on Friday , and on Wednesday head coach Marcus Freeman met with the media for the first time in a few months. It was great to hear him talk about where the program is at before “starting” its preparation for the 2026 season, as there are plenty of new faces, not just players, coaches as well. As one of the best motivators in the sport, Freeman has quickly gotten many of the first-time Irish players to buy into what the program is all about.

Freeman spoke for about 30 minutes, and here are some takeaways from what he said previewing Notre Dame’s spring practices. Notre Dame’s focus is on development Marcus Freeman is here for his pre-spring press conference. "It's been a great winter conditioning, winter development stage.

We have an unbelievable team. " — Jack Soble (@jacksoble56) March 18, 2026 Freeman quickly went into how the goal this spring is “how do we develop this team? ” There are multiple areas for the Irish that have question marks, and now is the time to play around with lineups and see which players have made the a jump since the season has ended.

It’s a very exciting portion of the season, as jobs can be won and lost during the spring. Returning Chris Ash and Mike Denbrock is huge What helps about having all your coordinators back: "for the guys that have been here, they are at a different level to under what is expected. You don't have to start over.