Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has faced criticism and scrutiny regarding his coaching decisions this season, particularly when the Fighting Irish had only 10 men on the field in the final seconds against Ohio State.
However, Freeman flipped the usual exchange between the coach and media during Monday's press conference. After answering a question from Irish Illustrated's Tim O'Malley, the coach asked "My turn?" and said he had two things to address with the reporter.
Freeman jokingly took issue with O'Malley's coaching of his son's flag football team in the second-third grade championship game. In particular, the coach wanted to know why the team scored zero points in two trips to the red zone.
Here's Marcus Freeman turning the tables on Irish Illustrated's @timomalleyND during Monday's press conference. O'Malley coaches Freeman's son's flag football team and Freeman had a couple hard hitting questions on some coaching decisions/mishaps. pic.twitter.com/jIKtJkuQKQ
— ND Football Discord (@NDF_Discord) October 23, 2023
Freeman questioned the red-zone play-calling which included a reverse pass that was intercepted. On a more personal level, he wanted to know why a long run by his son, Nico Freeman, was negated due to wearing only one flag instead of two.
O'Malley played along and explained that the opposing defense was stopping the run, so he thought a trick play might be able to work. Regarding the flag issue, he accepted responsibility though said an assistant coach may have been at fault.
With Notre Dame coming off a bye week, Freeman took an opportunity to have some fun with a media corps he sees frequently. He clearly enjoyed turning the tables on reporters and grilling O'Malley about his coaching decisions.
