CFP National Championship: Why everyone at Notre Dame bought into Marcus Freeman

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ATLANTA -- Rocco Spindler still remembers the feeling that permeated the air in South Bend, Indiana, during late November in 2021. The Notre Dame offensive lineman -- then a freshman -- and his teammates had just finished an 11-1 season only to be hit with the news that their head coach, Brian Kelly, was leaving for LSU while they still had an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff.

"There was a lot of uncertainty that whole week," Spindler said. "We didn't know who else was leaving, who else was staying."

As November turned into December, Spindler and the rest of the team found themselves grasping for any semblance of…