Its day one of year two for Marcus Freeman.
And Freeman was all smiles as he entered the Irish Athletic Center this morning.
Notre Dame practiced for about two hours Wednesday morning, with Freeman greeting each player in the stretch lines, as we've gotten accustomed to watching him do, before every practice.
"Good first day," Freeman said after a practice that lasted roughly two hours. "There's a lot we've got to get cleaned up. We've got to continue to practice to the standard that we've set. It's not effort, those guys were going, but we've got to be smart when we don't have pads on and be able to practice at a high level. Day one, it was good."
We saw many new faces on the practice field this morning.
Among them, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste who transferred from Ohio State. And a handful of freshman wide receivers, Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James, who as a group were impressive, and appear poised to compete for early playing time.
Wednesday morning's first practice also marks the public debut of several new assistant coaches, including QBs coach Gino Guidugli, who worked with Marcus Freeman at Cincinnati and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, who was a coach at Ohio State during Marcus Freeman's playing days.
There are also familiar faces in new places.
Senior running back Chris Tyree now wearing number2, and spent Wednesday working with the receivers.
"He has multiple skill sets and Chris Tyree is someone we need on the football field," Freeman said after practice. ". We can put him at wideout. We know what we he can do as a running back. He can do multiple things. You’re seeing that in college and in the NFL. You see guys who can play multiple spots on offense. "
Other players wearing new numbers this spring include wide receiver Deion Colzie (No. 0), wide receiver Tobias Merriweather (No. 5), safety Xavier Watts (also No. 0), linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 3) and cornerback Jaden Mickey (No. 7).
Among the new faces, none drew more attention than QB Sam Hartman, the all-time passing leader in the ACC, who transferred from Wake Forest in January.
"He’s a leader. You can tell he commands respect," Freeman said, when asked his first impressions of Hartman today. "He was sharp and Tyler did some really good things (too). It’s exciting to see two guys pushing each other and battling while respecting each other. I’m really excited to see this quarterback competition as we move forward over 14 practices to really see, not who becomes the guy but how much better it will make the room. That’s what you love. Anytime you have competition, it makes the room better. I’m excited for that"