As Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman digested the tragedy that had befallen New Orleans, where his team will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal Thursday following a one-day postponement of the Sugar Bowl due to 15 people being run over and killed by a man in a truck, he offered his players a profound message.
“What I told the team is in the toughest moments, the culture of any program, of a nation, is revealed,” Freeman told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday. “I have a lot of faith this country will rally around the city of New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected today.”
Freeman recapped the hectic day for his program late Wednesday night while New Orleans dealt with the horror of a man, suspected to be 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, driving his truck into a group of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans around 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
The initial body count was listed at 10 but has since grown, with dozens of others injured.
The suspect, a U.S. Army veteran who had an ISIS flag on his truck, was killed following a shootout with police.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Superintendent of Police Anne Kirkpatrick said. “He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Freeman said he gathered his team Wednesday but he did not have many details to share at the time, with the Fighting Irish preparing as if the 8:45 p.m. ET game would go on as planned.
He said the first part of that meeting focused on mourning and praying for the country and those affected by the tragic event.
The game eventually received a one-day delay, being pushed back to a 4 p.m. ET start Thursday.
Follow the latest on the terror attack on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street:
“I think first off, I’d like to say we’re hurting for all those affected by this tragedy,” Freeman said. “The city of New Orleans has welcomed us with open arms and we join them in prayers for all those victims and families that are affected by this tragedy.”
Freeman and his team eventually shifted their focus toward preparing for the game against the second-seeded Bulldogs at Caesars Superdome.
The winner of the game will face sixth-seeded Penn State in one semifinal, while Texas and Ohio State secured their spots in the other semifinal with victories Wednesday.
“What I told them is I don’t want to wait. We’re not just going to wait until we get to play this game tomorrow, but we have to have a plan and we came up with a great plan to utilize this time we have this evening to physically and mentally prepare and then we came up with a plan for (Thursday) morning as we get ready for a 3 o’clock central time Sugar Bowl,” Freeman said. “That was the reality of that meeting and what we had to do and where our focus has to be as a program. We will mourn and pray for our country and we have support systems here for anybody that needs someone to talk to or have support, but we also have to be prepared for this great opportunity we have (Thursday) in the Sugar Bowl.”
Freeman had not spoken with Georgia coach Kirby Smart, but he expected the Bulldogs to take a similar approach.
“I know that he understands how important this country is and how minute the game of football is compared to real lives and our nation,” Freeman said. “We all will have that at the forefront of our minds as we move forward, but we also have to understand there’s a game to play and there’s an opportunity both programs have to play in the college football quarterfinals and we have to make sure we’re ready for that opportunity that is going to come here in the next couple of hours.”
