ESPN analysts: Marcus Freeman can become face of college football with national championship win

Marcus Freeman is not only the cusp of making history but also solidifying his future. On Monday, ESPN’s Greg McElroy and Booger McFarland discussed how the Notre Dame head coach’s career trajectory will be affected if the Fighting Irish win the National Championship.

“Nick Saban was the end all, be all, the face of the sport for a very, very long time. He now has retired. There is a vacancy there. And I really believe this — I think in victory tonight, Marcus Freeman can go from superstar to the potential face of college football,” McElroy said.

“I really believe he has that type of gravitas and that type of energy and charisma to where even people that are on his rivals, even fans of USC, look and say, ‘You know what, Notre Dame’s got themselves one heck of a head coach.'”

After Brian Kelly left Notre Dame to take over at LSU following the 2021 regular season, the program named Freeman its next head coach. Although Fighting Irish fans celebrate the program’s decision now, it wasn’t always clear that Freeman was the best man for the job.

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In his first game as Notre Dame’s head coach, Freeman failed to lead the Fighting Irish to victory, falling to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. Freeman’s misfortune didn’t stop there. Notre Dame opened the 2022 season with back-to-back losses against Ohio State and Marshall.

While some coaches would have folded under the pressure of the mounting failures, Freeman pushed forward, helping Notre Dame finish with a 9-4 record. The Fighting Irish showed improvement again in 2023, posting a 10-3 mark.

Now, the Fighting Irish are one win away from being national champions for the first time since 1988, and Freeman becoming a Fighting Irish legend.

“If he can coach Notre Dame to win this game tonight, where they are a prohibitive underdog. That’s the reason why Greg puts him there. And I think everybody in college football would agree,” Booger McFarland said.

“He’s young, he’s innovative, and the players gravitate toward and like I said earlier, that’s not easy to do to get those players to believe in him. Everyone says the same thing about him, when you’re around him, his personality is infectious.”

Notre Dame and Ohio State will square off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN.