Paul Finebaum details unique opportunity for Marcus Freeman to make history on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, potential fate

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has a chance to make significant history Monday night in the national championship game. With a win over Ohio State, Freeman would not only deliver Notre Dame its first national championship since 1988, but he would also become the first Black coach to win an FBS national title.

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum spoke about that possibility Monday morning on Get Up and about how special it would be for Freeman, particularly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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“There’s a couple of other reasons this could be very significant,” Finebaum said. “I think it’s pretty obvious what Marcus Freeman is fighting for tonight. It’s the social significance of a Black man winning the national championship on MLK Day in Martin Luther King Jr.’s hometown.

“That cannot be overlooked, and that would be one of the biggest stories of recent years, if ever, in college football.”

Marcus Freeman is in his third season as the head coach of the Fighting Irish, and the program has gotten better and better every year under his watch.

Finebaum added that Freeman has made the Notre Dame program likeable, after it seemed to be the opposite of that for years.

“Well, I think the first thing we’ll say is what an amazing journey it has been. It has been the best college football story of the year,” Finebaum said. “And the fact that Marcus Freeman has made Notre Dame, one of the most reviled teams over history, into the most popular team and the one that everybody is cheering for.”

Whether Notre Dame wins or loses, Marcus Freeman is already the first Black head coach to lead his team to the national championship game. He described in his own words what that means to him after beating Penn State to reach the national title game.

“I’ve said this before. I don’t ever want to take attention away from the team,” Freeman told ESPN’s Molly McGrath during the Orange Bowl trophy ceremony. “It is an honor. And I hope all coaches – minorities, Black, Asian, white, it doesn’t matter – great people — continue to get opportunities to lead young men like this.

“But this ain’t about me. This is about us. We’re gonna celebrate what we’ve done, because it’s something special.”