Connection: The Secret Sauce Marcus Freeman Used at Notre Dame

Note: This blog was written before Sonny Smart, the father of Kirby Smart, passed away from complications from a fall on the day of New Year’s Eve in New Orleans. Apparently the fall occurred before the tragic shooting and car collision in that city. The senior coach Smart was there in New Orleans to witness his son’s game. His son visited him in a New Orleans hospital on New Year’s Day (the same day Freeman released his players to be with their families). One hopes that Kirby Smart believed his father would recover from his broken hip surgery when the game was played on Thursday January 2 but surely it was a distraction (in addition to the horrific shooting). But his dad could not recover (he was only 76) and died in the wee hours of Saturday, January 4th, less than 36 hours after the game was completed.

Blog Itself (with minor edits in light of above information)

Kirby Smart said Notre Dame cheated on the trick punt play. Wrong. By all accounts the play was legit. What Smart missed is how smart (in many ways) the opposing coach was and not just in planning football plays.

Start here. The trick play wasn’t why Notre Dame won. Sure there is no single overriding reason for their unprecedented bowl win, and there was lots of poor play by Georgia. Perhaps their usually amazing coach had other things on his mind like his father’s fall and subsequent surgery.

But, the head coach Marcus Freeman, whether knowingly or not, used trauma responsive approaches to help his team navigate the New Orleans shootings and injuries and deaths: he precipitated connection. He did this by giving his players three hours with their families on Wednesday (the original game day). Smart!

This was important time. Families were rattled by the tragedy in the backyard of the game. Game excitement paled in view of the horrific events that changed many lives forever. So, how do we calm the ANS? Connection.

Yup, connection is a key (not the only) strategy that allows us to rebuild fractured neural pathways and restore balance. Surely a team with internal calm can perform better than a team with high unresolved anxiety. Think time with family as a help for many (likely not all) players.

We often think that when things are bad or a student acts out, we need isolation or separation. Wrong. Isolation and separation are the opposite of what is needed in the face of uncertainty, danger and distress. Keeping the team isolated (which is I assume what Smart did) would be suboptimal.

Pre-game, teams usually isolate and bond and prepare and plan. True. But Marcus Freeman determined (seemed he was guided by his youthful wisdom) that none of these things would be effective in the face and presence of a shooting event with injuries and deaths. Bravo. A trauma responsive coach.

So, for all those who ponder what makes for good coaches and good educators and good social workers and good therapists and good medical professionals among others, here’s the short list: situational awareness, creativity and a toolbox of trauma responsive skills.

Kirby Smart complained about the wrong thing. He should have, instead, recognized that he underestimated non-football skills in his opposing coach. Smart can learn and given his track record, he surely will. We all can and should learn if we can let those who best us teach us.