Fiesta Bowl Has Head Coach Working as DC and DC Becoming Head Coach

STILLWATER – What an interesting match-up coming up in Glendale, Ariz. on January 1. I know, the first ever meeting between Oklahoma State and perhaps, the most historic program in college football in Notre Dame. Here’s another interesting aspect to the game. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy is more than proven as a head coach, a winner, a bowl game winner, an offensive jedi mind and a coach that hires good coordinators. He just lost his best ever on the defensive side as Jim Knowles became the highest paid coordinator in Ohio State history. In this game Gundy is working to be on top of the Cowboys highly successful defense in Knowles absence. This is something a little new to Gundy. Meanwhile in South Bend, the Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman changed titles a couple of weeks ago. Freeman, an excellent defensive coach, is now head coach at Notre Dame.

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Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame sidelines.

“He just remains the same person every day,” Notre Dame defensive end and captain Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa said. “He comes to work. We have a philosophy that we instilled across the team: challenge everything, unit strength and competitive advantage. That’s his approach and that’s his demeanor in every practice.  

“He comes ready to work. He wants everybody to get better and take that next step in our game, added Tagovailoa-Amosa. “That’s his mindset.” 

One thing Freeman did with his start of bowl practices was make everything a competition. The offense and the defense come out and immediately drill against each other. Score is kept. Bragging rights are in play.

“Offense is currently 0-2,” the Tagovailoa-Amosa said on Dec. 12 following the team’s second bowl practice on campus.

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Notre Dame at practice.

“It's nothing more than continuing to develop that competitive spirit — that mindset that everything in our power is to win,” Freeman said. “If I got a chance to make a play, I got to make the play. "That's what I tried to reiterate to the team (in practice). It's about when your opportunity presents itself, you got to make the play. That's all I'm trying to create during those periods."  

Gundy could surely give Freeman some pointers on establishing that competitive spirit and learning how to power through a season. It’s also important to learn how to seize opportunity and Gundy has been excellent with that.

Now, Freeman could probably help Gundy with some pointers on defense. His defense at Notre Dame was excellent this season, not far behind Oklahoma State in the statistical categories. He also has built some really good defenses other places, most recently Cincinnati last season before coming to Notre Dame.

Gundy has adjusted his practice routine coming down from the perch above watching all and spending time with the defense.

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Mike Gundy at practice.

"It's a change having him out there for us, especially on our side of the ball, said defensive end Tyler Lacy. “But I mean everyone is out there with the same common goal, to win and get better. So, I figure he's not giving us any harm by being over there and we're just taking it day-by-day. We're listening to what he has to say and going out there and executing."

Gundy seems excited to take on his new defensive responsibilities. It keeps him in touch with that other side of the ball from where he was as a quarterback and assistant coach and coordinator. 

"I know what Jim (Knowles) does at practice. The integral parts of what he does in the meeting rooms all day, Gundy explained. “I'm not in there with them all day. So, that's when I went in to gather that information. Then I took his responsibilities and said, 'Okay, (Tim) Duffie, you got this, Joe Bob (Clements), you got this, Hammer (Dan Hammerschmidt), you got this, to cover what Jim did in practice, the scripting the plays, the stuff we do, all that is done in meeting rooms anyway, you guys know that. It's no different when (Mike) Yurcich) and (Todd) Monken and all those guys left whenever I called it, everything was done in the meeting room. I just showed up and called it on game day. So that's where we're at right now."

What I want to know is where both coaches will be at with their change on January 1. Where they are could decide where their team is on the scoreboard at the end of the game.