Mike Freeman, who graduated from Wayne High School two years before Marcus did in 2004 and was also a star linebacker for the Warriors, thought he would tread lightly in the wake of that 16-14 upset in September.
He waited a day or two then checked in.
“I just said something like, ‘Man, you’re doing your thing. You’re okay,’” Mike recalled texting his brother.
That is not what Marcus wanted to see, though.
At perhaps the lowest point of his three years leading the Fighting Irish, the younger Freeman decided he needed something more like tough love.
“He pretty much said, ‘As my brother, I need you to be honest and just tell me how it is,’” Mike Freeman recalled. “It wasn’t like, ‘Wait for Purdue, man. Good luck, do your thing.’ He was like, ‘As my brother you tell me the honest truth. I don’t need these people who tiptoe. I need my brother to be my brother and tell me. Be real with me.’”
How could he do that?
Well, Marcus had some suggestions, too.
“‘You embarrassed us,’” Mike recalled his brother wanting to hear. “‘You embarrassed this team. You embarrassed your school. You embarrassed my family. Like, get your stuff together and let’s go.’”
Though he was concerned about the impact of the shocking loss to the Huskies up to that point, Mike Freeman said his brother’s response put him at ease.
“After that, I was like, ‘OK,’ and every game, it was the same. Like, ‘Oh, he’s in that mindset of, ‘we’re dominating’ and, and I don’t think the rest of the year there was any stress,” Mike Freeman said. “I don’t think my parents really stressed too much. It was more of just like, ‘I just need to watch the game and hopefully he does good.’”
The Irish did more than good, winning their last 10 regular season games to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Then they beat No. 10 Indiana in the first round, topped No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and nipped No. 6 Penn State in the Orange Bowl to set up a match with Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Championship Game on Monday night in Atlanta.
That means a third matchup between Marcus Freeman and his alma mater in as many seasons. And while the Buckeyes won the first two, those were just regular-season contests. This one is for all the marbles.
“It’s Ohio State,” said Mike Freeman, who like Marcus grew up rooting for the Buckeyes and continues to be an OSU fan whenever they are playing anyone else. “From the very beginning of the year, they were the team (expected) to win it all, right? They had the highest probability, right? And he has the tie to them, but it’s also like, ‘I want to beat the best.’
“I think he’s always wanting to prove people that he can win. So yeah, it’s just one of those things.
“He won’t share anything, but I know because of the environment, everybody watching and what this game means. He really wants to win it. It doesn’t matter who it is, but I do think it’s even more because it’s Ohio State.’’
Of course, Mike Freeman always had faith in his brother’s ability, but his success doesn’t come as a surprise to his high school coach, either.
Jay Minton, the long-time leader at Wayne who coached both Freeman brothers and remains a teacher in the school system, always saw the potential.
“Kid with a great personality and knew how to talk to people, you know? And never met a stranger,” Minton recalled recently.
“Obviously you don’t get in a place like Marcus is without the timing being right and everything, so he’s been fortunate in that not only has he had the skills and and done well, extremely well with people and and with his career, but the timing has been right, too.”
Minton also is proud to see another of his former players, Mike Mickens, climbing the ladder as a college football coach.
While Freeman was a three-year starter linebacker at Ohio State from 2006-08, Mickens was an All-American cornerback at Cincinnati in 2008.
Mickens graduated with a degree in criminal justice, then began his coaching career as a defensive assistant for the Bearcats in 2011. He also worked at Indiana State, Idaho and Bowling Green before reconnecting with Freeman at UC in 2018 then going with him to Notre Dame, where he has served as cornerbacks coach and pass game coordinator the past three seasons.
Since at least his days recruiting for Bowling Green, high school coaches have spoken well of Mickens, and he might be up for another promotion soon.
“It’s pretty neat because when they started to recruit, when they both got to college jobs they would come in the office and they’d be recruiting, they both looked and acted the part, like a million bucks. I said, ‘Man, these two guys — especially Marcus — but these two guys, man, they’re just gonna bust it,” Minton said. “I mean, they’re just gonna blow it wide open because they’re gonna be so successful just because the way they handled themselves, and I think they both have.”
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