When Marcus Freeman was named the head coach for the University of Notre Dame in December, a lot was made about the players’ support not just for Freeman but for saving the program’s culture versus bringing in an outside hire who would seemingly look to install their own culture. The players’ voices were heard by the administration, including AD Jack Swarbrick. A month later, their actions spoke louder than words when player after player announced their return to Notre Dame even with other, sometimes more lucrative options, were available to them.
“I met with them this morning, and I was reminded of that and reminded of the fact that the culture built in this program isn’t Jack Swarbrick’s culture, it’s not Brian Kelly’s culture, it is the culture built by those young men and especially the leaders of that team,” Swarbrick said on the morning of November 29 just hours after Brian Kelly professed his “limitless” love for his former players in a three-minute goodbye speech.