For Notre Dame, the recruiting staff, Marcus Freeman, and Chad Bowden have changed the game.
The recruiting team has played a major role in Notre Dame’s increased recruitment efforts in recent years.
Recruiting was one of my main grievances with the previous Notre Dame administration. One of the many self-inflicted roadblocks that prevented Notre Dame from winning was the absence of a well-thought-out plan, a lack of effort at the top, and a lack of dedication to recruiting at the highest level.
We were offered justifications about academics and the need to “shot down a different aisle” rather than making the necessary adjustments and putting in the effort.
Thankfully, the game has radically changed with the addition of Marcus Freeman, Chad Bowden, and the rest of the Notre Dame crew. Notre Dame is recruiting at a much higher level than it has in a while now that the justifications are no longer valid.
In addition, Freeman is shopping in a different aisle from the former head coach. The Irish are winning games and the programme is moving in an interesting direction because he is opting to compete head-to-head with the top teams in the nation.
Clearly, Freeman has had a significant influence on it, both directly and indirectly. Freeman is undoubtedly a skilled individual recruiter, but he also had a significant impact by insisting that Bowden be brought along with him when he took over as defensive coordinator and by elevating Bowden to Director of Recruiting for the entire programme when Freeman was appointed to head coach.
