Marcus Freeman had a heated outburst towards Notre Dame running back Aneyas Williams after he received an excessive celebration penalty in the Fighting Irish's win this weekend. However, Freeman recently said he wasn't pleased with how he handled things with Williams during the game and explained why he apologized to Williams later for his behavior. "I watched my reaction, and I just don't normally watch the TV copy, but I did, and I didn't like it. ...
I reached out to him, and I told him that, one, I said, 'I love you, ' and I said that more than just the team has to learn from this play, myself included," Freeman said at his press conference. "I always tell our program, 'We gotta keep things in the kitchen,' and it's a reflection of when I used to work at Texas Roadhouse. ... Like, the kitchen's dirty and messy, but people can't see inside the kitchen," he explained.
"We gotta keep things in the kitchen, and coach, too." More news: Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss Apologizes to Holly Rowe for Postgame Behavior Freeman said he wants to keep things in-house with his players because otherwise outsiders will form their own narratives and misperceptions about his relationships with players. Notre Dame defeated Michigan State Saturday, 27-10. Williams was his team's second-best running back, with nine carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
Teammate Nolan James Jr. had 26 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. Williams' penalty for his touchdown celebration came after Notre Dame's 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. As Williams continued celebrating with teammates in the end zone, the referees threw the flag.
Freeman seemed irate, yelling from the sidelines, and continued shouting at Williams as he came over to the sideline. Williams, a 5-foot-10 junior, has 38 carries for 144 yards and three touchdowns this season, and looks easily on track to surpass his numbers from a season ago, when he had 224 yards and five touchdowns. Along with James Jr., Notre Dame has an effective two-man run game, helping fill a void left by last season's Heisman Trophy contender, Jeremiyah Love, now in the NFL.
Add in quarterback CJ Carr, who could be on the shortlist of Heisman contenders by the end of this season, and Notre Dame looks like a potential College Football Playoff team again. The Fighting Irish are 3-0 this season, after blowing out Rice and Wisconsin in their first two games. As of this writing, they are No. 3 in the AP and AFCA Coaches Top 25 polls.
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