Now going into his fifth season as the head coach at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman has established himself as one of the best coaches in college football. That’s led to no shortage of rumors linking Freeman to NFL coaching jobs in recent seasons, including the New York Giants.
Those rumors can be difficult to navigate for college coaches. They become a distraction and can even make it harder to recruit.
Following 2025, when Notre Dame went 10-2 but declined a bowl invitation after being snubbed by the College Football Playoff, those rumors were at their loudest. It was a situation Freeman recently broke down on Josh Pate’s College Football Show.
“The year before, there was a little bit of chatter. But you’re in the playoffs, and that’s your only focus,” Freeman said. “This year got really loud after the end of the regular season. I’ve never been in this position where we’re not playing the bowl game or playing in the playoffs. So, I did. I took a minute to really say, ‘What is this opportunity to be an NFL head coach?’ I’ve never coached the NFL. I wanted to know what they look for, what they think it takes to be successful. And I gained some valuable knowledge.”
After playing linebacker at Ohio State, Freeman had one season in the NFL as a practice squad player. He quickly got into coaching at the college level, this time as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. From there, he rose through the ranks coaching in the Midwest.
Freeman had stops as a linebackers coach at Kent State and Purdue, before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator at Purdue. He later became the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, developing players like Sauce Gardner while he was there. That led to him making the jump to Notre Dame in 2021, again to be the defensive coordinator. However, after that season, head coach Brian Kelly left for LSU, and he landed the head coaching job.
As the head coach at Notre Dame, Freeman is 43-12 with a trip to the College Football Playoff. He also has four AP Top 25 finishes in four seasons and played for a national championship in 2024.
“I was always honest with our players,” Freeman said. “If they asked, I talked to them and said, ‘Listen, guys, I’m head coach of Notre Dame, and I can’t control what opportunities or what people are saying outside of this building.’ And I was always in communication with our athletic director and my family… We’ve had some coaches get opportunities to go coach in the NFL, and I’m happy for them, but if we weren’t having team success, if we didn’t win those last 10 games, then their name or nobody else’s name would be floating around here.”
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are Excelling in Recruiting
GettyNotre Dame sings the alma mater with head coach Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame is a program that has its challenges to overcome in recruiting. In particular, the academic standards are higher, and the school is less willing to bend them for athletes.
Still, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are doing excellent on the recruiting trail. Rivals ranked Notre Dame as having the No. 2 recruiting class in the country in 2026. That’s this season’s incoming freshmen. As for 2027, which is still in progress and won’t be signed until the winter, Notre Dame sits at No. 6, again according to Rivals.
Recruiting rankings aren’t the end-all, be-all. However, they’re an indicator of future success, based simply on the raw talent being brought into a program. Coaches still need to develop players and come up with good gameplans, but there is raw talent coming into Notre Dame.
In the modern era, teams also need to avoid being drained by the Transfer Portal. That’s something Freeman and Notre Dame have been pretty good at, too. On3 ranked Notre Dame as having the No. 9 transfer class, with only 15 players leaving the program and seven players incoming. Within the Top 20 of those rankings, only three other teams lost as many or fewer players.
All that amounts to Notre Dame is recruiting well and retaining talent. After sending six players to the NFL and winning double-digit games three years in a row, it’s hard to say the future isn’t bright for Freeman.
Expectations are Through the Roof in 2026 for Notre Dame
GettyNotre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman after winning the Orange Bowl.
After Notre Dame was snubbed from the College Football Playoff, the Irish declined a bowl game. That set the tone going forward for the program. It’s make the CFP or bust.
Freeman is going into 2026 knowing that the expectation is that he’ll be competing for a championship. Even without preseason rankings being out yet, there’s no doubt that Notre Dame is going to be in the Top 10 initially. That’s in large part because of who returns at quarterback for Notre Dame.
CJ Carr will be in his second season for the Irish. He flashed his talent and showed that development that Notre Dame needed to see in 2025. So, now, they’re expecting a major leap going into 2026.
The season will open up on Sunday, September 6th at Lambeau Field. There, Notre Dame will play what’s being classified as a neutral-site game against the Wisconsin Badgers. It’s one of 10 games against a Power Four opponent.
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