Luke Fickell and Marcus Freeman have a relationship that spans nearly two decades.
The two have grown together with Fickell serving as a mentor and father figure to Freeman. Their respective kids, all 12 of them, are close and have gone on vacations together. Their wives are close. Their bond is real.
[ Longtime bond between Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman translated to success for UC football ]
None of that will matter on Saturday.
Fickell and the No. 7/8-ranked (Associated Press/Coaches polls) University of Cincinnati football team (3-0) will travel to South Bend, Indiana, to face Freeman and No. 9/7-ranked Notre Dame (4-0).
The two won't be scheduling any dinners or get-togethers before or after the top-10 clash. They won't be exchanging many pleasantries either. Instead, Fickell and Freeman will be on opposing sidelines for two undefeated top-10 teams that are standing directly in each other's way.
"If I was coaching against my own father or my own brother, it would be just like it is," Fickell said Tuesday. "Those unique days, those Saturdays, there's only 12 guaranteed ones a year. You go about them the same way. Whether it's your brother you're coaching against, one of your former guys, one of your best friends, whatever that is, you respect the day, you respect the kids that have prepared for it, and you go about it that way. There is plenty of time in the offseason to be able to do things like that."
It will be the first matchup between the two programs since Oct. 20, 1900. (The Fighting Irish defeated the Bearcats, 58-0.) It will also be the first time Fickell will face one of his former coordinators.
Before this season, Freeman was Fickell's defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, turning the Bearcats' defense into one of the most dominant units in college football. Freeman was the only defensive coordinator Fickell had since Fickell took over the UC program in December 2016.
But in January, seven days after the Bearcats lost to Georgia in the Peach Bowl on New Year's Day, Freeman left Cincinnati and Fickell to take over the defense at Notre Dame under Irish head coach Brian Kelly.
Fickell has known Freeman since 2002, when Freeman was a standout linebacker at Wayne High School in Huber Heights and Fickell was the special teams coordinator at Ohio State. He helped recruit Freeman to Ohio State, helped develop Freeman into one of the country's top linebackers, and then helped him become a top assistant. Fickell then watched Freeman become Kelly's top assistant.
More:Marcus Freeman leaves Cincinnati Bearcats for defensive coordinator position at Notre Dame
After Freeman's defense collected four interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns last week, Kelly became the winningest coach in the history of the Irish program with a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin.
Kelly's 106 victories (106-39 in 12 seasons at Notre Dame) passed Knute Rockne's 105 wins as Irish head coach (105-12-5 in 13 seasons, from 1918-30).
Kelly, who was the head coach at Cincinnati from 2007-09, said Monday that he wanted to extend a helping hand to his former school when he scheduled Saturday's showdown in South Bend.
"I just thought it would be, for me, an opportunity to give those schools that gave me an opportunity a chance to play Notre Dame," he said.
On Tuesday, Fickell didn't shy away from the magnitude of the game, calling it the biggest regular-season contest of his five-year UC career.
"It's a big game any time you play Notre Dame," he said. "I mean, Notre Dame is obviously a top-5 program. It just happens to be a year where we're both really good and ranked high. But I think that, more than anything, you gotta go about the process of making sure you stay focused and not spending too much of your emotions worrying about all the other things that are going on because it's two top-10 teams."
There are several emotional ties between the two programs. Not just with Freeman and Fickell, or with Kelly playing his former club, but Freeman's cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens was a standout corner for the Bearcats under Kelly, becoming the UC's career leader in interceptions (14) and interception return yards (296).
Cincinnati graduate wide receiver Michael Young Jr. transferred to UC from Notre Dame. Bearcats offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock brought Young over from the Irish. Denbrock recruited Young to Notre Dame when Denbrock was at the school from 2010-16 in a variety of roles.
"I think there obviously will be some familiarity on both sides of the ball from the things that we do and the things that they'll do defensively just by the nature of being around guys for a really, really long time," Fickell said. "But like anything, there's always changes. I mean, (first-year UC defensive coordinator) Mike Tressel has brought things in to us that might not be natural or normal to people watching unless you're actually breaking things down. And watching their defense, there's a lot of things that are different as they've kind of evolved in one year."
Many of the players on Cincinnati's defense are there because of Freeman. UC sophomore linebacker Deshawn Pace last week even expressed his displeasure with Freeman's departure.
Fickell said he'll have to keep his emotions in check on Saturday, something he admittedly struggles with, but he also said he'll have to do an even better job of making sure his players keep their emotions in line come game day.
"It's may be even – not harder but – different on kids because they haven't gone through it as much," Fickell said. "That 19-year-old that maybe did have a great relationship with Coach Freeman, that was recruited by him. But, like I said, those are things people talk about. But once the ball's kicked off, all those things, you don't think about until maybe it's 0-0 when the thing's all said and done."
Emotions aside, Saturday's game is huge for both programs. Fickell called it a "measuring stick." But it's still just a game. And there aren't expected to be any extra dramatics before kickoff or after the final buzzer sounds.
"I see some of the NFL things. I see guys taking pictures after games and things and I just kind of scratch my head," Fickell said. "I just don't understand it quite as much. But that's them and this is us. That's kind of the way I've always gone on about it. Blame my upbringing for that."
Notre Dame would not let Marcus Freeman be available for comment for this story, saying, "We do not make assistant coaches available during the season and we are not making an exception this week."
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