Marcus Freeman Kicks Things Into Overdrive At Notre Dame, Changes Practice Routine After Demoralizing Upset Loss

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Notre Dame football entered the 2022 season with a lot of hope for the first year under Marcus Freeman. The first two games of the season did not go so well.

Marcus Freeman calls rare Sunday practice at Notre Dame after Marshall loss

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 10, 2022 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Fighting Irish, who saw Brian Kelly leave for LSU after the regular season, named Freeman as head coach prior to the Fiesta Bowl last year. His debut started out strong and Notre Dame jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the second quarter, but Oklahoma State scored 30 of the game's final 37 points and stormed back to win by two.

It marked Freeman's first loss at the helm, but it came with a lot of promise. In turn, the hope was that the Irish could start the 2022 season with a win over Ohio State.

They did not. But that was okay because the Buckeyes are the Buckeyes and expected to make the College Football Playoff this year.

A loss to Marshall in Week 2, however, would not be acceptable. And, well, Notre Dame lost.

As a result, Freeman is 0-3 to begin his career in South Bend. It is not at all time to hit the panic button, but there are some things that clearly need to change and it is extremely demoralizing.

Fans at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday were extremely sad as their school paid the Thundering Herd a lot of money to come in and pull the upset. It was brutal.

Because of the poor start to 2022, Marcus Freeman decided to kick things into overdrive at Notre Dame.

On Sunday, when the team would normally have a day off to rest, he called practice. The Irish had time to get right during the day but were back out on the practice field last night.

When a coach goes against his team's regular routine, it's not a good thing. There is clearly a need for change in Indiana and Freeman is determined to right the ship, starting with practice on Sunday.