Marcus Freeman says Notre Dame’s NIL message is built to be “based off” fit, not money

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman says he and his staff are not planning to win recruiting by leaning on NIL as the primary pitch. Speaking in a recent interview that focused on the post-NIL recruiting environment, Freeman argued that, for the players Notre Dame is recruiting, the offers tend to land in a similar range across top programs, which makes the difference less about dollars and more about what the program sells beyond football.

Freeman’s basic point is that NIL has changed how conversations start, but not necessarily how decisions end. He said the NIL “part of the recruiting pitch doesn’t carry as much weight” for Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish can make similar financial offers as other national contenders, according to the interview coverage. That framing is important in college football now, where NIL is increasingly viewed as a prerequisite in recruiting, yet where coaches still have to identify reasons a prospect can see himself fitting the culture, resources, and daily structure of a specific campus.

Freeman also directly addressed what he wants recruits to understand when they compare schools. He described his recruiting message as trying to get prospects to “put money aside” and evaluate the value of what’s offered outside football. The objective, in his words, is to convince recruits they see what is different about Notre Dame, even when the headline comparisons are similar on the money side.

The interview coverage places Freeman’s approach in context by connecting it to his own recruitment experience. Freeman said he knew Notre Dame’s history as a program when he was being recruited, but that he did not know much about the school itself, and he wants current recruits to have clarity about the university as part of the decision. He emphasized the idea that “small school” value and the specific reasons to choose Notre Dame are not preferences every prospect will share, and that the goal is to make sure those reasons are understood clearly rather than assuming every top recruit will be pulled in by the same hook.

The backdrop for Freeman’s comments is the broader escalation of NIL spending across college sports. The reporting around the interview notes that the June NIL market was described as “the most expensive yet,” citing On3’s Pete Nakos, and that the recruiting world has shifted since NIL arrived in July 2021. In that environment, coaches are wrestling with a new reality: recruiting is no longer only about visits, film, and projected development, but it still has to end with a coherent football and life fit.

While Freeman’s remarks suggest Notre Dame does not view money alone as the differentiator, his message does not deny that NIL exists as part of the recruiting conversation. Instead, he argues that once NIL is handled, Notre Dame’s job is to separate itself with concrete reasons: program identity, football instruction, and the broader case for why the decision should make sense in the long run.

For Notre Dame, what to watch next is how this philosophy translates into recruiting priorities and commitments across the next recruiting cycles. Freeman’s comments imply that Notre Dame wants prospects to commit to the whole package, not merely the highest check, and that the staff believes the financial gap among top programs is not as large as public narratives suggest. In the NIL era, that will be tested every time a similarly ranked prospect compares multiple offers and has to explain why he chose Notre Dame after the NIL negotiations were already part of the process.