Paul Finebaum takes jab at Brian Kelly during praise of Marcus Freeman

For what they’ve done in making the national championship this year, Paul Finebaum has applauded the three-year turnaround at Notre Dame.

On ‘Get Up’ on Friday, Finebaum discussed what it means for the Fighting Irish to be in the national title game in the College Football Playoff. He started with praise of Marcus Freeman for the job he has done to get them there, especially considering the lone loss that is on their record.

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“Well, I’m going to talk about coach here as well and that’s Marcus Freeman. Just an extraordinary job of bringing them back,” Finebaum said. “I sat here, I was the first one to write them off and say that they’re done. So let me compliment Marcus Freeman.”

However, this is also a justification for what Notre Dame can be in the modern day. That, as Finebaum noted, is now the opposite of what Brian Kelly thought about the program when leaving there for Baton Rouge in 2022.

“Let me also go back three years to another point in time. Notre Dame hasn’t been in a national championship game since the ’12 season. That’s when Brian Kelly – yes, Brian Kelly – lost by 28 points to Alabama in Miami,” Finebaum recalled. “I just couldn’t help but think that Brian Kelly, three years ago, said, ‘I’m leaving Notre Dame because I want to win a national championship and the only place I can do that is LSU!’. And here is Marcus Freeman, who was his assistant briefly, and he’s now brought this team back and so much credit to him and amazing staff. I’ll let my friends here talk about the players that made the difference but it was an amazing thing to watch.”

Again, Kelly accomplished a lot while with the Fighting Irish like playing for a national title in the BCS while also making a pair of appearances in the CFP. However, he never won a game in any one of those postseason games with the average margin of loss in those three being by 24 points.

Now, over the last three weeks, Freeman has earned Notre Dame’s only three wins in playoff history. Freeman, with that, has also affected the program in a way that, to Finebaum, has changed the present-day perception of Notre Dame.

“Throughout the course of history, Notre Dame has been the most hated team in America. They’re not anymore,” said Finebaum. “Marcus Freeman has made them likable. I mean, I was with them last week in New Orleans and fans are cheering. They’re the underdog. I just didn’t think I would live long enough to watch Notre Dame in this likable, underdog role.”

This run and the underdog feel of it could come to an end for the Irish on the final night of the season. Just being there is an achievement of its own, though, as confirmation of their brand as a program, especially now under Freeman.

“They will be the underdog either against Texas or Ohio State. It’s a little hard to calculate. Right now, it doesn’t seem like a great matchup for Notre Dame against either team but I don’t think that matters,” said Finebaum. “To me, the fact that they are there so quickly under Marcus Freeman is the story of the year in college football.”