Marcus Freeman addresses concerns about recruiting while in College Football Playoff

The period following the end of the regular season is incredibly busy for college football coaches, as they navigate the Transfer Portal and high school recruitment. That is only exacerbated for teams like Notre Dame where head coach Marcus Freeman is also taking on the challenge of a deep College Football Playoff run.

Ahead of the National Championship Game, Freeman shared some of his thoughts and concerns about recruiting while coaching in the College Football Playoff, emphasizing the value of winning.

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“Yeah, we’ve often said the best recruiting we can do is keep winning,” Marcus Freeman said. “That’s the reality of it. This is going to be the best recruiting we can do because the lights are on our program, and that’s great for parents and high school recruits to see.”

Marcus Freeman has certainly made a name for himself during the Playoff run. In that stretch, he became the first black and the first Asian college football coach to make it to a National Championship Game. However, he hasn’t done that alone on the coaching staff and recruiting is no different. There, he’s relied on the staff Notre Dame has in place.

“But we also have a great recruiting department. Chad Bowden, who is our general manager, and his department has been on the road in high schools, getting transcripts, talking to coaches and figuring out the character of high school prospects. So we’re not sitting back and not being on the road recruiting. We’re just having other people in our program do it. We have two females which I think is great to put the spotlight on: Zaire Turner, she’s on the road recruiting, and Rebecca Sites. So two women that are in our recruiting department are actually on the road, recruiting in high schools,” Freeman said.

“And I think that’s amazing because, one, they do a great job; but, two, you’re not going to see many women recruiting in high schools and scouting and doing those things. So I think it’s great for the growth of recruiting departments but the growth of women in football.”

Notre Dame currently has the 12th-ranked recruiting class in the 2025 recruiting rankings, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. It’s a class that includes one five-star recruit and 13 four-star recruits. Then, in the Transfer Portal, Notre Dame has the 29th-ranked transfer class in the 2025 cycle. That includes three players who have exited the program and eight who have entered it, though there is a chance those numbers expand following the National Championship Game.

The National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Ohio State is scheduled for January 20th at 7:30 p.m. EST.