Notre Dame football's Marcus Freeman stresses importance of relationship building in recruiting in NIL era

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

The more things change in college football, the more things stay the same.

That is certainly true about how Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman views recruiting during the new NIL age of the sport. 

"At the end of the day it’s going to come down to relationships and that is more important than anything. Can you get this young person and his family to trust you and your football program to lead their son for four years." Freeman said during a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ "Pardon My Take."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman takes the field before the Notre Dame Spring Game at Notre Dame Stadium on April 20, 2024. (Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"Because you can try and sell as much on a visit and say let’s get him to commit right now, not many guys are going to do that on that moment. So, can you continue to double down and continue to develop relationships with that kid so at the end of the day they are like ‘you know what, this is where I want to be.’"

The 38-year-old knows that relationship building with a recruit does not stop once the pen hits paper.

"Even after they commit, you have to keep doing it because everybody else is still recruiting him. Everybody else is still trying to get that kid to come visit their place, so you have to continuously recruit and develop relationships with that person until he gets here on campus."

Part of why Freeman still believes that relationship building is the most important part of recruiting is because his oldest son is going through the process right now. 

"I’m actually going through it right now with my oldest