"We have the highest graduation rate in college football": Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman brags about setting benchmarks while aiming natty

For Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, nothing less than a national championship victory counts as a winning season. However, he believes the ultimate goal is not just about winning title games or recording 10+ winning seasons, but about being better human beings.

He said that not everyone gets to play in the pro league or drafted into the NFL. What remains is the character and education student-athletes gained over the years at the university. On Monday's episode of "The Joel Klatt Show," Freeman pondered on the milestones that his program has achieved.

He claimed that the Fighting Irish hold the record for the highest graduation rate in the country. Even though the team hasn't won a national championship since 1988, this culture attracts players across the nation. The coach believes every team has a bar, which they call their full potential. For Notre Dame, it's about producing quality players, who are dynamic on and off the field.

“We know we don't play in a conference. Everybody wants to be a champion at the end of the season,” Freeman said (09:30). If that's your only goal to view your job and your season as a success, then, man, there's a lot of people that look at their seasons as failures, and for me, we always talk about, how do we reach our full potential right there.

"I think every program has a level that they call their full potential, right and how do we chase that, no matter victory, defeat, what the outcome of the last game was, we're continuously changing, chasing that improvement to reach our full potential. I think we have the highest graduation rate right now in college football.”

Marcus Freeman recalls taking over Notre Dame from Brian Kelly

In 2021, when Brian Kelly left for LSU, Marcus Freeman got the chance to take over Notre Dame. Being an offensive coordinator, he was aware of the culture. He also told Joel Klatt that his first year as coach saw a regression, as the team only had a 9-4 season.

The following season, he made progress with a 10-3 record, while slowly regaining control of the team's success rate. Last year was a testament to his dedication, as the Fighting Irish made it to the national championship game, only losing to Northern Illinois in Week 2. Freeman intends to go big this time by learning from his team's 2024 campaign.