Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame finally took control of the team after starting 0-2 in their first two games. Since then, Notre Dame has bounced back, winning 3 games in a row against teams like Arkansas, Purdue, and the former AP Top 25-ranked Boise State. Now, Notre Dame are officially back at No. 16 in the AP Poll. As the Fighting Irish head into Week 7 against NC State, head coach Marcus Freeman sent an emotional message to a rival coach who recently lost his daughter to cancer.

On October 7th, Marcus Freeman hopped onto podium ahead of week 7 battle against NC state and put up an emotional message to NC State’s first year DC DJ Eliot who lost his daughter Drue Margaret Eliot: “I think it’s important that hopefully he knows and his family knows they’re in the prayers and thoughts of everybody, especially mine.” (Via Matt Fortuna) Freeman’s words show the very strong sense of compassion and unity that exists in college football beyond the competition on the field. In moments of personal tragedy, coaches and teams often come together to support one another.

Last month, NC State announced the heartbreaking news that DJ Eliot’s daughter, Drue Margaret Eliot, had passed away after fighting cancer for several years. Drue was first diagnosed with pediatric cancer in the spring of 2020, at a time when DJ Eliot was coaching football at the University of Kansas. It was a shocking and painful moment for the family, as they had never expected to hear something so devastating.

DJ Eliot opened up about the experience during an interview in 2020, saying that the news left their entire family heartbroken. He explained that there’s no way to prepare for something like a child’s cancer diagnosis. But through the pain: “I don’t even know how to explain the emotions or the thoughts that go through your mind. It’s nothing that you ever expect to hear, and you don’t really have a plan for it. So when we got the news that Drue had cancer, we were devastated, all of us. And you really become a lot closer. Our family is definitely a lot closer now than we were because we’re all going through this together.”

Since then, DJ Eliot has continued working in football, moving between different coaching jobs. He was the defensive coordinator at Temple in 2022, worked with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, spent time as an analyst at Baylor in 2024, and is now in his first season as the defensive coordinator at NC State. With DJ Eliot coming to South Bend to face Freeman, there’s a deep sense of respect and empathy between the two coaches.

Marcus Freeman ready to take it to the next level with CJ Carr

Notre Dame had a big win against Boise State, winning 28-7, and a big part of that was because of their freshman quarterback, CJ Carr. He threw the ball really well, completing 15 out of 23 passes and scoring two touchdowns. Because of how well he played, the coaches now believe he can take on more responsibility in future games. Coach Marcus Freeman said they might start using Carr in different ways, like in a special play called the “wildcat” formation.

In Notre Dame’s version of the wildcat, running back Jeremiyah Love would take the snap directly, while Carr would line up at wide receiver. This strategy is meant to confuse the defense and create more options for running and passing the ball. Coach Freeman said that if it becomes necessary, they may even have Carr throw the ball from that formation to keep defenses honest. He sees a lot of potential in Carr and believes he can handle more responsibility because of how talented he is.

Even though Carr doesn’t run the ball much in college so far, he was a good runner in high school. Back then, he had over 300 rushing yards and scored 16 rushing touchdowns. So while Carr is mainly known as a passer, he has shown he can run when needed. That’s why the coaches believe they can trust him to do more than just throw the ball, possibly even running or passing in special plays to help the team win.