WEBVTT - Marcus Freeman joins Josh Pate - Pate State Speaker Series 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.079 You got to enter your five I mean you knew. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:21.640 I guess you had some kind of idea. All right, 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.119 here's what I think this whole thing is going to 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.840 be like five years from now. Well, now we're five 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.320 years from them. So how comparable is it to what 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:29.200 you thought it may be like. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:34.320 Probably there's some similarities, but a lot different than you 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.760 would imagine. And you never really understand. You always have 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.400 this envision of what it's like to do something else, 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:41.080 what it's like to be a coordinator, what it's like 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.400 to be a head coach, what it's like to be Mary, 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:46.280 what it's like to be a father, and then you 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.680 get into that phase and you realize there's a lot 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.880 more to it than you think. But it's been one 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.080 of the greatest joys of my life and it's because 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:59.840 of the people, the players, the people you get to 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.560 work work with every day, this university. That makes it special. 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.920 But uh, it's a lot different than you you probably thought. 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.680 On the front end. I think most people when they undertake. 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:16.120 A really high profile job, feel some level of imposter syndrome. Now, 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:17.960 some people lie about it and say they don't feel it, 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:19.760 and then other people are more honest than say they do. 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:20.600 I know I've. 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.759 Felt it before, getting to do like what I love 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.800 to do for a living. When you became a head coach, 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:28.959 like early on, where ever moment you're driving home, you're 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:30.880 just looking in the rearview mirror. There are mornings in 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.880 the bathroom you're saying, man, am I really ready for this? 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.759 Like I'm the head coach at Notre Dame. 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:41.440 There's still moments. So I spoke in the past that 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.200 I laugh and one I go, I'm the head coach 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.840 at Notre Dame. But there are times I go, I 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:49.720 can't believe they hired me to be a good coach 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.000 at Notre Dame. I say that all the time. I 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.960 laugh and uh, you know, because you as you look 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.400 at yourself, you probably you have I have this perception 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.560 of what a college head coach is and what the 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:06.320 head coach at Notre Dame is, and you probably don't 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.639 think that way of yourself. And I just laugh and go, man, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.400 I can't believe they hired me to be the head coach. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.960 Here and perception reality are two different things. But I 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.839 think that human element is important. I mean, it keeps 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:26.400 you grounded, it keeps you grateful for the opportunity that 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.600 you do have, because I think if you're not grateful 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.080 for it, you'll lose it. Well, here's what's crazy about it. 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.000 So like when you're coming up, it could be in 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:35.680 any walk of life, it could be in any industry, 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.760 but in coaching, when you're coming up, normally you're going 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.120 maybe a ga For some people, eventually they get their 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.400 own room, Eventually they get their own side of the ball. 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.840 Eventually they become a head coach. But like the public 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.480 looks at your Wikipedia page, it says he became a 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.400 head coach this year. You think, in your mind, do 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.840 I'm still the guy who was like ga ing a 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.320 long time ago. I'm still a position coach, and now 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:01.919 you're saying they're paying me more money, Like I'm much 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.360 more high profile, But there's a part of me that 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.200 still feels like I'm the same dude I always was. 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.360 Yeah, because you are, Yeah, you are, you are. You 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.920 don't feel different. I always say, this perception of you 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:16.520 is different. Right as you continue to rise, people perceive 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.840 you differently, but who you are on the inside never changes. 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:26.200 And that's the thing that I often laugh about, is 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.400 that I'm still the same person that was a GA 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:32.799 or play ball and was a linebacker's coach. But I 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.880 understand responsibilities are different. I understand that perception may be different. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.480 But what I've learned is you still to accomplish the 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:44.119 task at hand that you have. It still goes down 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.560 to those same things that made you a successful GA 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.280 and that's hard work, that's working with people, that's gratitude 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.440 for what you have, and it's the same thing that's 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:54.960 going to make you a successful head coach. 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.119 Are these talks you ever have to have with either 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.680 a player or a staffer? You know, if I'm being 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.320 recruit by Notre Dame, I play here, That's the most 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.240 high profile thing I've ever done in my life. If 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.080 I'm coaching here, it's probably the most high profile job 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.160 I've ever had in my life. But yet I'm playing 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.320 and or coaching here because I'm good enough to be here. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.400 How often do you have to tell guys, stop trying 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.280 to reinvent yourself, stop trying to be one hundred and 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.200 fifty percent of yourself. We want you to develop, but like, 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.760 you're here because we thought you were already good enough. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.719 Yeah, it's an everyday reminder right as to how do 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.360 we chase being the best version of ourselves. We all 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.440 have individual goals and I think I always say the 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:35.240 thing we can control is trying to reach our full 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:39.760 potential as a football team, as an individual. And let's 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.640 see what the reward of reaching your full potential is. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.520 But that's what you're chasing every day. And you don't 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.600 have to be somebody or not, but you do have 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.320 to struggle with what you have if you truly want 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:52.760 to elevate and reach your full potential. 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.320 You were talking about perception and expectation and reality. So 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.240 you guys, from the moment you were done with last 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.960 year's season, you knew this is going to be a 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:04.159 high expectation. 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.520 Year coming up. Publicly, you always have it for yourself. 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.520 We're going to be ranked really high, You're gonna be 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.320 on the cover of magazines, like a lot's going to 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.840 be expected of us. And you know, ten years from now, 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.040 you'll look back on the season and it'll just you. 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:16.159 Know, it's like a line item. 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.920 But when you're living it in the moment, there are 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.560 seven months between the way last season ended and then 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.120 leading up to this year that people. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.279 Hear noise and there's chatter and there's. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.800 Expectation, I don't know if that changes your preparation at 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.200 all individually, but how much does it maybe change the 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.960 way that you try and wire this building to understand guys, 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:40.440 just because it's expected of you. There were three teams 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:42.440 last year that were preseason top ten that finished on 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.600 rank like, nothing's guaranteed. How much do you have to 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.039 kind of caution against that or is it just baked 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.200 into the DNA of the building? 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.800 Yeah? I think more than anything, it's that this place 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.880 is full of high achievers that want to be the best, 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:59.920 and they want those things that probably everybody else expect 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:05.000 from you and your group, and I remind them to 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:09.520 struggle with what we have, right, we have to. Truly 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.600 we say choose hard, which is another phrase of struggle 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:18.839 with what we have, and the understanding that there's times 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.360 we can go and pull from the past. We can 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.920 use the different moments from the past to motivate us. Right. 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.919 We all need that. We all sometimes default to just 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.040 doing what's average, to choosing easy, and so there's times 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:36.840 I'll go to the past and pull from now. So 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.040 I always say, keep the pain, I'll pull from the past. 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:41.760 But you can't do it every day. You got to 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:44.200 wake up on most days and make the decision. Am 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.200 I going to choose hard or not? And if we 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.760 do that, then we got a chance to accomplish those 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.320 goals and those expectations that everybody has. But us daydreaming 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.280 about that, us thinking about that and not really taking 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.360 advantage of what we have in this moment, is going 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.400 to waste the opportunity that we have right in front 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.880 of us. I remember back when I played Little league baseball. 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:06.880 My dad was the head coach. 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.240 And he'd always get mad at us when we complained 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.120 about a call third strike, because you know, his message. 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.200 Would always be never leaving in another's hand. And I'm 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:16.000 probably breaking. 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.360 Cart and I just I try and envision you walking 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.520 around this building at the end of last year. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:22.560 You're mad because you didn't make it to the. 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:26.200 Playoff externally, internally, like you can tell me how far 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.600 off I am. I picture you walking around saying, that's 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.600 what you get when you leave it in the committee's hands. Right, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:32.280 you can't leave it in their hands. You got to 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:34.800 leave no doubt. How close am I to basically being 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:35.600 in the staff. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.760 Room or being in team meetings. You're spot on in 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:44.080 my head, you know, I think At first, my default 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.320 was the same as many other people, as you blame 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.080 somebody else. That's what default is, is you're just gonna 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.200 blame It's not my fault, it is it's the committee's faulted, 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.760 somebody else's fault. We should have been in the playoffs. 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.520 And but if you continue to have that mindset, you 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:02.360 can't use that nigga of experience right. And I always 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:08.320 say you learn outside lessons when you have success. When 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.040 you win a game, there's tactical things we have to 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:14.920 do better. We did well, But I believe in failure 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.560 you learn the greatest lessons because they're inside lessons. And 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.560 in order to learn from those inside lessons and improve 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.840 and be better, you have to own it. You have 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.800 to own the fails, You have to own the situations. 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:29.680 You have to own that you sleep in the bed 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.360 you make and that's how you learn from that. If 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.920 you blame somebody else, you lose it. And so my 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.520 job is every day is remind everybody and myself that 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:42.920 everything that happens to you in life, you have to 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.040 own it so we can use it to improve from it. 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:50.240 I always often say, like the pain of a loss is, 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.160 it's tough, it's hard, but it's there to help you grow. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.280 It's no different than the pain from a physical wound. 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:02.000 Right you scape you have pain, you want to make 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:04.600 the pain go away. Well, the inside pain from a 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.360 loss or a failure. It's there so you can grow 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:09.599 from it. You want to make it go away. The 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:11.480 only way to make it go away is continue to 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:13.240 learn from and grow from it and use it. And 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.520 so I don't want to lose some of those negative experiences. Yes, 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:19.240 not making a playoffs. There's one, but there's plenty of 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.679 them in our past. There's ones that we all have 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.160 as individuals, and some of these that we have as 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.880 a team in a program. But I want to use 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:28.200 them to make us better. 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.880 I can loosely explain how this is applied to me, 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:39.600 but I want to see how it applies to you. 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.720 Like as a leader of a big organization, you. 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.760 Don't know what the negative experiences are that are going 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:47.800 to come, but you know they will come, so like 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.800 you want to proactively say, I know those times are. 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:51.520 Going to be valuable. 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.679 I know it's going to test us. I know our 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.400 response is going to define our characters. So I gotta 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.959 be ready before they have Like before the martial loss happens, 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.480 or the Northern Illinois laws happens. I hope they don't happen, 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:05.319 but when they do, I've got to be able to 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.240 leverage that to be a growth pill for our place. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:14.280 How immediately after a negative experience does that like kick 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:14.840 in for you? 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.560 Yeah? It takes time. It's so funny with the things 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.320 you say. Is the things often remind myself and our 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.840 program is the future's uncertain, right, we never envision the 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.880 future with the negative things that are going to happen. Yeah, 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.200 just up man, it is. It's just perfect upward trend. 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:37.240 But life is a bumpy rope, and you know you 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.360 have to embrace that. And it takes time, different amounts 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.760 of time to figure out what you need to learn 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.520 from the previous failure. But you can learn something if 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.320 you spend enough time and really reflection and valuation and 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.319 those type of things. And you know, I could study 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.880 Miami from last year and say, Okay, here's the things 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.640 I wish we would have done differently, right, and what 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:01.400 less we need to learn from that? Or A and 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:06.199 M the many lessons we learned from there. But it 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.600 sometimes takes time, different amounts of time to figure out 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.079 what you need to learn from each failure. 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.600 I know your goal was to be a head coach. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.120 Like when you were an assistant, you looked the one 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:17.400 day and. 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:19.480 Said, I want to be a head coach. Correct? Correct? 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:21.920 Okay, So like I've never been able to talk to 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.480 you about this. The moment when that happens, the opportunity 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.840 is presented to you. Brian Kelly's leaving here, he's going 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.760 to LSU. That entire time, that entire moment in time 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.440 of your life. What was that like to experience? Because 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:38.960 everyone says whirlwind, and I imagine it was a whirlwind 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.120 for you. There's no, there's no we're gonna let you 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.320 be the head coach. Okay, go get ready for two 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.280 years it's you're the head coach. Go coach again. 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.800 Yeah yeah. I usually use the word whirlwind, but I'll 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.760 use tornado. I mean, I'll use something different. It's it's 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.400 it's just go go go go, go, go, go, go, 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.960 go go do this, do that, which you don't know. 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:07.240 It went from late night telephone conversations with different members 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:12.440 of our board r AD president to an interview in 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.439 person with our athletic director, Jack Swarbrick at the time 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.960 to Okay, we're gonna name you head coach. To Hey, 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:22.840 you're in front of the entire staff, you're the head coach, 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.240 say something, shoot, hey, what do I say? You know? 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.280 Then all of a sudden, Hey, we're gonna introduce you 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:31.200 as the head coach of the team. To next thing, 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:32.840 you know, I was taking photos with my family, and 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:34.760 my family doesn't know what's going on. Hey, you got 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.400 to be here at nine in the morning. We're taking 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.440 pictures on the field. It's freezing cold. My kids are like, 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:42.520 what's going on? My wife is, oh, I got to 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:44.760 get closed for him to You're on college game day. 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:50.040 And I remember, actually that was probably the first interview 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:51.680 I did. We were on college game day. I was 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.520 sitting in a room and I was speaking to them 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.080 really looking just into a camera, but you couldn't see them, 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:00.400 but you could hear them. And I remember for moment 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.360 going like holy cow, like this is a lie. You know. 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:05.520 The next you know, you had a press conference, You're 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:07.719 on the road recruiting for a week straight. Oh yeah, 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.240 and we gotta get ready for a bowlgain and it 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.240 was just go, go, go, go go, And you didn't know. 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.200 It's almost like you were just kind of just in 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:19.120 a moment, and then you get time to reflect, right, 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.880 you learn, and you know you're you're grateful for that moment. 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.600 Sometimes you wish you can go back and redo it, 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.280 but you can't. But it is a lot just throwing 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.359 at you right away. But over time you figure it out. 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:35.160 You start to figure it. I don't know if you 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.240 ever truly get it all figured out. If somebody did, 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:39.560 then they would win every game they played. But you 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.120 start to figure out, okay, this is what being a 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.439 head coach in tails. What I had to do, probably 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.480 at first is kind of push away and say, okay, 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:51.520 what who do I need to meet with? What's the priority? 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:56.800 Exactly right? And and then over time and the experience, 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.800 you start to say, okay, I'm starting to understand what 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:02.000 it takes our process to have success. 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.520 If I were to have been hired at Florida instead 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.200 of some whole, if I got hired at Auburn instead 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.480 of Alex Golish and I called you and I said, hey, man, 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.120 you've been through this. I know you pretty well. Give 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.360 me one or two biggest piece of advice, like what 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:19.120 am I about to experience? What should I prioritize. What 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.720 were the trial and error results that you went through. 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.480 What would you say You're going to lose. That's the 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.560 first thing I'm gonna tell you. And cause you never 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.120 think about that, you're gonna lose and it's gonna be okay, 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:36.520 and use the lessons from losing to help you improve 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:40.720 and be better. Like you're going to have failures. You 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:44.360 can't do this thing alone. It's about people. Get the 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:49.760 right people in your building. Spend time with your players 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.320 because they're the most important people to have a success. 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:59.200 Recruit your tail off, but understand that that you're going 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:02.120 to have failure, you're gonna lose. Just know it's about 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.400 the people. Get the right people. You can't do everything. 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:10.360 You can't do everything. You don't know everything. Surround yourself 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:12.400 with people that have answers where maybe you don't have 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:14.200 all the answers, because if you have all the answers, 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.680 then it's hard to grow. I always say that be 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:21.440 cautious of people that have all the answers because they 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.920 don't feel that they have the capacity to grow. They 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.680 don't need to gain wisdom. I love to surround myself 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.560 with people that have way more answers than I do. 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:34.480 And it's okay, you're still a head coach. Don't worry about, 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.040 you know, bringing in people that have strengths where you 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.440 have weaknesses. It's just gonna make you and your. 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:45.240 Program better when you're hiring someone, especially someone who's expertise 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:47.800 is way out of your wheelhouse. Sometimes for some guys 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.400 that strength and conditioning or nutrition or sports science or 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.840 something like that, and yet it is up to you 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:55.680 to decide whether they're going to work for you or not. 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.280 What's the interview process like and how much of it 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.480 is you saying, Look, I don't know hiring someone who 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.400 knows way more than I know about this specific thing 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:04.760 I got. 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.200 I got a loose understanding of it. But explain it 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:07.400 to me. 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.320 Explain something I don't know a lot about thoroughly enough 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:11.640 to where I'm gonna hire you. 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.640 Yeah, it's it's those key positions that you mentioned that 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.480 really the head coach has to make the decision. It's 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:23.320 important for me that your interview, more than anything's gonna 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:27.320 be as many people as I call that know you, 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.240 that I can trust what they'll tell me. Somebody's going 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.160 to tell you the truth. I mean, somebody's going to 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.000 tell you the honest truth, and I want to know 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.640 who you are in a tough time. I'm gonna call 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:41.880 everybody that you've just had a touch point with and say, 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.840 who's Josh Pate When it gets really tough, who is 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.240 he as a person? And a lot of times, for me, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.720 that's the interview. Anybody can come in here and wow 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.400 me and say, hey, I know these x's and o's 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.080 on offense or defense, or this is the greatest thing 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:01.120 in the weight room, But what type of person are you? 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.720 Show me the experience that you've had, the success that 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:08.200 you've had. I always say that that Notre Dame probably 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.240 isn't the place to figure out if somebody's qualified to 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.800 be in that position. You know, I want to see 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.720 some of the success you've had in previous previous places. 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:24.639 But the other thing is maybe we're hiring somebody that 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:29.280 is in your expertise or your field house, the assistance 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:34.159 rint coach or the next intern. Well, now I'm going 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:38.600 to empower you. Right, you bring the right guy in. Right, 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.720 You've got to bring the right guy in because my 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.560 expectation is for us to be the best. Right and 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.199 you have to now be able to hire somebody you 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.960 believe is going to help this department be the best, 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:54.200 and we're going to hold each other accountable to those expectations. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.119 How big would you say your circle is appears the 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:01.240 ones you call on regularly, text regularly, know that you 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.760 could bounce something off of in confidence. I mean, there 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.840 are not a lot of head coaches out there. Yeah, 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:07.600 and it may be like a CEO of a company 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:09.160 who's never coached a day in his life. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.840 But how big or compact is that circle for you? 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:18.400 It's as big as you can think as an accessibility, right, 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.280 I got the ability to connect with a lot of 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.520 different people in all different fields just because of who 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:30.359 you know that knows somebody. But you know, the people 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.640 you talk to regularly, there's not that many because you're 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.639 just so busy and they're busy, and but you know, 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.040 in important times you're able. You can always reach out 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.720 to them. There's people to reach out to me. If 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.560 you need to find an answer, there's somebody in that 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.159 network or in your wheelhouse that can give you that 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.240 answer or you can gain some of that wisdom. But 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.000 I'll tell you what like people are are generous, people 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.280 are available, but you've got to go seek out the answers. 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.119 You can't. They're not gonna call you every right if 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.159 you want an answer, there's somebody or actually multiple people 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.240 that really have great info, but you gotta go seek it. 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.320 How much has that paradigm started to shift a little 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.280 bit for you now that you're several years into being 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.000 a head coach where you know it starts out you're 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:16.800 the one reaching out. 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:16.919 Now. 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:18.880 I'm not saying you don't still reach out, but now 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.280 you may be a guy who people are reaching out too. 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.600 More and more. Yeah, there's been quite a few first 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:29.280 time head coaches or or guys that have actually coached 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:31.960 longer to meet it reach out and say, hey, if 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.119 you're open, how do I want to know how you 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.240 handle this or your mind if I come and spend 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.600 a day or two with your program, And I'm always 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.520 open to that, Like, I don't feel like we have 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.800 some secret formula that we don't want anybody to see 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.760 what we're doing or come in spend some time here, 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:51.359 because I'm going to gain something from the time we 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.600 spend together. And I think it's important. I think it's 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.720 an important to help the profession to continue to and 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:02.000 I'm not really talkingctical idea as much as is big 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.600 picture ideas with other coaches, and is there a better 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:07.399 way to do it? How are we handling the changes 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:11.320 that are happening in college football? And you know, I'm 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.240 accessible and other people have been very accessible to mean. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.200 Man, you're the head coach at Notre Dame, which means 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.480 you've got a really big voice. You just talked about 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.760 all the changes happening in college football. It's my job 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:24.800 to cover the stuff day to day. And I look 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:26.639 at some of it and say, I've got no interest 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.160 in talking about this, or I don't even understand this. 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.760