Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman 'learned lesson' from Ohio State comments, now more careful
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said last summer's commentary about Ohio State that quickly went viral was a "learning experience." Freeman, who played for the Buckeyes, was not aware of how offensive his Ohio State remarks would be and later said he was misquoted on additional comments centered around the Buckeyes' academics.
A year removed from the brief firestorm, Freeman knows better than to speak freely and has a better understanding of his audience. Innocent offseason fodder no longer exists in college football in the social media age.
"You need to learn. You need those lessons to learn. I think about that article in The Player's Tribune," Freeman said on the most recent The Pivot podcast with Ryan Clark. "You kind of do it that they interview you, and they write it for you. You think that you are talking to Notre Dame fans. You are not thinking about anything else other than Notre Dame fans. And they asked, 'Why did you choose Notre Dame?' And I was like, 'Oh, I made a mistake. I don't want to say no to Notre Dame twice.'
"And poor choice of words because that's all the people at Ohio State read was, 'You regret your decision to choose Ohio State.' No. I wouldn't be where I'm at without those years in Columbus, Ohio, and I value every part of that. It was a great lesson that you have to be careful of the things you say, the things you write and your interviews because it's not just talking to a certain group. Everyone sees it, and everyone can take it a certain way."
