It would always happen.

The summer would turn into a circus with the return of Marcus Freeman to Ohio State in week one, but few expected the Notre Dame freshman head coach to be misquoted by a national writer.

CBS national college football writer Dennis Dodd is in the spotlight for his story about Freeman shooting Ohio State academics. (Which should come as no surprise as CBSHQ has recently been stealing ISD content at an alarming rate)

Ohio State media picked it up and followed it.

Still, Freeman didn’t take a shot at Ohio State in this case. Freeman reached out to his former bandmate, Bobby Carpenter, and went on Morning Juice on 97.1 The Fan on Wednesday morning to clear the air.

“That’s why it was important for me to reach out to you specifically because I wanted to set the record straight,” Freeman said. “I was misquoted by Dennis Dodd in this article and the key words and context were missing from the quote which upset many people I care about.

“I am very proud of my two degrees from Ohio State. I would never discredit the quality of education these degrees represent. I was speaking specifically of the academic rigors at Notre Dame. Notre Dame has 8,500 students and online courses weren’t part of the standard curriculum and before COVID they weren’t even offered.

Prior to his Columbus radio appearance, Freeman obtained Dodd’s audio and read his exact quote to the CBS writer.

“When I was first told about this quote that was doing the rounds yesterday in a negative way, I was surprised,” Freeman explained.

“I asked him to share the audio with me, so I could hear exactly what was said. I wrote – here is exactly what was said:

“Their study habits are formulated every day. You can’t fool Notre Dame scholars. If I didn’t go to class at Ohio State, 60,000 students. Cincinnati, another big public school. There’s has 40,000 students. “I’m not going to class, ok. Take classes online. Show up for your final. At Notre-Dame, you have to go to class every day, but it formulates this capacity for work, this capacity for learning.

All the difference between what was written and what was said and why Freeman wanted to make sure those in Ohio knew he wasn’t shooting the Buckeyes.

“The only reason Ohio State and Cincinnati were referenced was because they were big schools with a lot of students compared to Notre Dame, which is a small school with 8,500 students,” said Freeman said. “That’s why it was important for me to contact you because I wanted to make sure that what I said was actually reported.

“I would never disrespect Ohio State. I would never say you don’t go to class. I went to class. I’m sure you did. We had classes and we made sure to go to class. I would never say that and disrespect my alma mater.”

September 3 can’t come soon enough.

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