Marcus Freeman addresses reports linking him to NFL coaching openings

While being connected to the pros, Marcus Freeman isn’t worried about that right now.

Freeman spoke about links between him and jobs in the NFL on Thursday. He said his mind isn’t on that option as of now. He also admitted that he wouldn’t know where to even begin in coaching at the next level right now.

“As for me, I never even — I try not to waste time thinking about an uncertain future,” said Freeman. “I tell our players all the time, your future is uncertain. So I try not to waste time thinking about things that aren’t in the moment. And so I haven’t spent any time really thinking about what the future will provide.

“Do I ever want to coach in the NFL? I have no clue,” Freeman continued. “I don’t even know what that entails really right now because I’ve never done it. But I’m just focused on staying here in the present and getting this team ready to have a great Thursday practice and hopefully putting in the work to achieve the outcome that we want on Saturday.”

However, Freeman does appreciate it as it must mean that they’re doing the right things in South Bend.

“I think it’s just an example of what I tell our players every day. With team glory and with team success comes individual recognition and individual glory. And I know and everybody, hopefully, in this program understands that, without everybody in this program accomplishing their roles, we’re not going to achieve the success that we want on the football field on Saturday,” Freeman said. “So, when you do your job, and everybody gets their job done and you have success, there are going to be certain individuals each week, certain parts of the year, that have individual recognition and individual glory.

“But I know, and we know that – listen, I mean, it takes us all to achieve the success that we aspire to have. And so that, to me, is reflection — your name is floating out there and it’s a reflection of how this program is playing and performing every day and on Saturdays,” Freeman said.

This comes after reports of Freeman, among other college head coaches, being a potential candidate across the National Football League. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler named Freeman, as well as Oregon’s Dan Lanning in an article on Wednesday as options for franchises depending on which jobs and how many open up towards the end of this season. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network also had similar reporting.

Freeman has been a head coach for three seasons now at Notre Dame. He is 28-8 (.778) overall in that time leading the Fighting Irish. That has led to Top-10 rankings in the AP Poll and Top-15 ratings in the College Football Playoff each season. The last two have ended in bowl games with both of them being wins. Their best record yet under him currently at 9-1 also now has them two games away from earning a berth in the CFP.

Almost all of Freeman’s football career has come at the collegiate level too. Following his four years at Ohio State, he was in the pro for a season as a fifth-rounder in 2009. He has since coached through the 2010s with the Buckeyes as well as Kent State, Purdue, Cincinnati, and now at Notre Dame but has never been back to the NFL.

Freeman could be a coaching candidate one day for the NFL. It’s just not something for him to consider in the present apparently regardless of the reporting.