Feeling the heat: What Marcus Freeman needs to do to stay off the hot seat

Now three years into the Marcus Freeman era of Notre Dame football, and what do we know, really? He looks like a coach, but has a nasty habit of not getting his team ready to play vs. teams the Fighting Irish should wipe the floor with. So far in his Notre Dame tenure, Freeman has "guided" the Irish to horrendous defeats at the hands of Marshall, Stanford and now the Northern Illinois Huskies.

The Northern Illinois loss is bad, mostly because it gives us little trust in the product on the field. We thought Notre Dame would be a serious national title contender in major college football this season. Now, they can't even throw for a touchdown, as offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock is speaking French to a transfer quarterback Riley Leonard who only knows Greek. The team only knows English...

So while I would have said for Freeman to get himself off the hot seat would require Notre Dame to either win out or go 10-2, as well as make the expanded College Football Playoff, baby steps, folks. I think the home loss to Northern Illinois planted a terrible seed in everyone's mind that this Notre Dame team has it in them to lose to everyone. I think we need to totally reset how we feel about them.

Let's answer the question once and for all: What does Freeman need to do to get off the hot seat?

What Marcus Freeman needs to do to get himself off the hot seat in 2024

There are multiple things I need to see and feel for me to feel comfortable about taking Freeman off the hot seat permanently heading into next season. The first is I need to see some semblance of offensive cohesion between Denbrock, Riley and the rest of the offense. Not all three pieces need to work perfectly in unison, but I need to see at least two of the three pieces coming together quickly.

The second is Freeman needs to earn the trust of his new boss in Pete Bevacqua. Jack Swarbrick is no longer the athletic director at Notre Dame. Unlike Freeman, Bevacqua is a Notre Dame alum. He was hired from the sports television world, much like Brett Yormark was as the Big 12 commissioner. I think as long as Freeman and Bevacqua see eye-to-eye on most issues, he will have staying power.

And before we unpack the rest of Notre Dame's 10 games for this season, I think there needs to be a firm understanding that the Irish need to get back to recruiting quarterbacks out of high school. Becoming too reliant on signal-callers in the transfer portal has been to their detriment. Sam Hartman did not get drafted after last season. I wouldn't be drafting Leonard if I was an NFL franchise.

Finally, with Notre Dame sitting at 1-1 with a road win over Texas A&M and a home loss to Northern Illinois, here is what an acceptable record should look like for Freeman to get year four in South Bend. Right now, I don't see Notre Dame beating USC at season's end, so at best they could go 10-2. Of their nine other games, I think the Irish need to win at least seven of them to finish the season at 8-4.

Notre Dame probably needs to win their next two over Purdue and Miami (OH) to have any realistic shot at redemption. I would say Louisville at the end of the month is the Irish's hardest "ACC game," so to speak. If the Irish win all but Northern Illinois, Louisville, and USC, Freeman will be more than fine. If the Irish were to lose to someone like Georgia Tech, Stanford, or Florida State, we might have issues.

Ultimately, we need to see Freeman assert himself as a true Power Four coach the rest of the season.