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This is a special episode of The CEO Series for me because we took a trip to Notre Dame Stadium where I played football as a walk-on with my brother during the undefeated 2012 season. We went to my old stomping ground to sit with the coach Marcus Freeman to talk about leadership and how, in many ways, he is the CEO of their incredible program.
Below are some highlights from that conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full video above.
The coach as CEO
“A CEO is the head of a great company, and my company is Notre Dame Football. Ultimately, you are responsible for every decision that affects the people in the program and the results that are on the field. So you don’t make every decision, but you are responsible of every decision. It’s important that you understand. During my coaching career, the greatest satisfaction came from seeing the players you had success with.”
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Celebratory video went viral after being hired as head coach
“It was a confusing moment. But I remember walking out that door and seeing the team go crazy – all I wanted to do was hug them. It wasn’t a speech. It was a chance to celebrate and be with your guys, right? I always tell them: I’m a teammate. I might be the captain, but I’m a teammate. I understand the things you’re going through. I’m in this fight with you. And I think they respect that and understand that. Getting out of that door is a moment I will never forget and will cherish forever.”
The meaning of his mantra “Choose hard”
“It all started a couple of years ago when I was in the weight room at Notre Dame working out while our players were being pushed to the max. And I remember thinking you can choose to go through the motions or you can choose to go as hard as you can.” that you can. And that’s when I came up with the idea of ’Choose Hard.’ We put up a sign that you see when you walk into this building that says ‘Choose Hard.’ Because when you walk into Notre Dame Stadium, you have to have that mindset choose forcefully in practice today, choose forcefully today in meetings, choose forcefully today in the weight room. And as for the players, you will be challenged in class, right? You will be in class with some of the smartest people in this world. And it’s difficult, but in the end you chose to come here like this choose forcefullyaccept it and know that the reward of choosing lasts every single day can’t be found anywhere else.”
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Problem solving philosophy
“When a team doesn’t win, a lot of people say they trust the process. My mantra is: fix the process. I spend a lot of time evaluating everything we were doing. Why don’t we play better? What are we doing schematically? Is there something our players don’t understand? Losses happen and are part of life. But they hurt. As a leader, you don’t want to have too many. Let’s resolve this urgently.”
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Retaining players in the transfer portal era
“Look, if you’re the CEO of a company, you have to pay your employees, right? Now, if they can go somewhere else and make a lot more money, it doesn’t matter what kind of company you run, they’re probably going to leave. So we need to make sure our players can maximize name, image and likeness opportunities. That’s important, but what else keeps them at Notre Dame? What else attracts them here? And you have to believe it’s your culture. You have to believe whether it’s how they’re treated. Do they like being part of your program? That’s very important. And that’s a message to me and to other coaches. Let’s make sure it’s as hard as we are to push them, as demanding as we are, not it’s humbling. We want them to enjoy being a part of this team and enjoying all the opportunities that the University of Notre Dame offers.”
Discover more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting the CEO Series archives.