Paul Finebaum praises Marcus Freeman after leading Notre Dame to National Championship

Now in his third season at Notre Dame, head coach Marcus Freeman has led the Irish to the verge of a national championship. All that stands in their way is the final game of the College Football Playoff against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

At one point in the season, having suffered an upset loss to Northern Illinois, it didn’t look like this would be possible for Notre Dame. However, the team rallied and as Paul Finebaum explained on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, the Irish have become an incredible story to follow in large part thanks to Freeman’s coaching.

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“I just think Notre Dame managing to come all the way back is one of the most remarkable stories that I have seen in college football,” Paul Finebaum said. “Because on the second weekend of the year when they lost to NIU, I think you had to think that this team had no chance of making it to the Playoff and certainly the final game.”

Finebaum further explained that part of what has made Freeman special at Notre Dame is his personality. He’s a charismatic young coach who has seen his players and fans alike gravitate toward him.

“I think the approach can be replicated, but in the small time I’ve been around him I have rarely if ever seen a more charismatic, engaging personality for today’s players. He comes off young and enthusiastic and locked into what they do,” Finebaum said.

“And I realized while you were doing the game I happened to see, he got a terrible call late in the game and instead of going angry, he just smiled. I don’t know what that means to an official but I guarantee you curry favor a lot more just smiling and laughing it off than getting in their face and scowling. I just thought that was a remarkable moment. I don’t know how anybody could be that upbeat when they see the game slipping away.”

Marcus Freeman is now in his third full season at Notre Dame after taking over for Brian Kelly. In the long history of coaches at Notre Dame, every coach who has won a national championship, with the exception of Knute Rockne, has done so for the first time in their third season with the program. Kelly, for his part, also played for a BCS National Championship in his third season. Now, Freeman is looking for a better result and a College Football Playoff National Championship in his third season.

Notre Dame will play Ohio State with a national championship on the line on Monday, January 20th.