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SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football will hold “a version of a spring game,” fourth-year coach Marcus Freeman said Wednesday.
Amid a national trend of deemphasizing spring games or giving them additional secrecy ahead of the spring transfer portal window (April 16-25), Freeman said it was important to keep the April 12 Blue-Gold Game on the schedule.
“We will have a spring game,” Freeman said after the first spring practice. “What’s important to me is to use that as an opportunity, one, to let our players, yes, perform in front of our fans but two, it’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program.”
Nebraska is rebranding its spring game as the “Husker Games” with multisport showcases and skills competitions. Notre Dame might not be up for the Irish Olympics, but Freeman still believes in the concept of lower-cost tickets and community outreach with the home opener almost six months away.
“That’s so important to me,” Freeman said, “to give the opportunity to fans that typically maybe don’t get the opportunity to come to a Notre Dame game. Or if they do to give them another opportunity to come and engage with our players. I don’t want to take away from that.”
Spring plan: From CFP final to Blue-Gold Game, Notre Dame football tweaks its approach to spring practice
Freeman didn’t comment specifically on spring game format changes at USC, Texas and beyond but alluded to the wave of reinvention.
“There’s a lot of pros and cons for each decision, but that went into my decision of keeping our spring game,” he said. “I want to use this opportunity for our team and our football program to make sure that we are interacting with our fans.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football keeps Blue-Gold Game alive at Marcus Freeman's insistence
Continue reading...
Amid a national trend of deemphasizing spring games or giving them additional secrecy ahead of the spring transfer portal window (April 16-25), Freeman said it was important to keep the April 12 Blue-Gold Game on the schedule.
“We will have a spring game,” Freeman said after the first spring practice. “What’s important to me is to use that as an opportunity, one, to let our players, yes, perform in front of our fans but two, it’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program.”
Nebraska is rebranding its spring game as the “Husker Games” with multisport showcases and skills competitions. Notre Dame might not be up for the Irish Olympics, but Freeman still believes in the concept of lower-cost tickets and community outreach with the home opener almost six months away.
“That’s so important to me,” Freeman said, “to give the opportunity to fans that typically maybe don’t get the opportunity to come to a Notre Dame game. Or if they do to give them another opportunity to come and engage with our players. I don’t want to take away from that.”
Spring plan: From CFP final to Blue-Gold Game, Notre Dame football tweaks its approach to spring practice
Freeman didn’t comment specifically on spring game format changes at USC, Texas and beyond but alluded to the wave of reinvention.
“There’s a lot of pros and cons for each decision, but that went into my decision of keeping our spring game,” he said. “I want to use this opportunity for our team and our football program to make sure that we are interacting with our fans.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football keeps Blue-Gold Game alive at Marcus Freeman's insistence
Continue reading...
