Marcus Freeman shares gratitude toward coaches who shaped his career

Now in his third full season as the head coach at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman has the Irish on the verge of appearing in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. It’s a place he got to on his own merit but not without the help of other coaches throughout his career.

Ahead of the Orange Bowl against Penn State, which doubles as the College Football Playoff semifinal, Freeman shared some thoughts and his gratitude toward the coaches who have shaped him throughout his career.

“There’s so many,” Marcus Freeman said. “I mean, there’s so many and so many different races. I mean, the impact Jim Tressel has had on my life, and Luke Fickell and Darrell Hazell, the guys I’ve worked for. It didn’t matter what color they were. It’s the way they went about their business.”

Freeman played his college football at Ohio State under Jim Tressel and would go on to be a graduate assistant for the head coach in 2010. He later had stops at Kent State, Purdue, and Cincinnati before landing at Notre Dame as the defensive coordinator in 2021. Along the way, he worked for Darrell Hazell, Luke Fickell, and Brian Kelly.

Beyond those coaches that Freeman has worked under, there are other coaches who he has seen from afar, including those in the NFL ranks.

“But then I’ve followed Tony Dungy from afar, reading his books, meeting with him. Mike Tomlin from afar. Todd Bowles, I mean, there’s great coaches,” Freeman said. “But you don’t just follow them because of the color of their skin. You follow them because of their actions and the men of integrity they are, and their hard work.”

The list of coaches who Freeman has looked up to is extensive within the college game too. That includes several other coaches around college football, including the one he beat in the Sugar Bowl to earn Notre Dame’s first New Year’s Six win since 1993.

“I think of Nick Saban. I think of Kirby Smart. I mean, those are guys — You got to be yourself, but you’re a fool if you don’t study what the best do,” Freeman said. “There’s something that they do that is helping them have success. So, I have to be Marcus Freeman, but I’m going to study the best. I want to study those guys, and some of them happen to be minorities, and some of them don’t.”

Freeman has now won 32 games in three seasons as the Notre Dame head coach. If he can win a 33rd on Thursday night in the Orange Bowl, then he’ll have the opportunity to play for a national championship.