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Newsstand: Where Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman ranks in The Athletic’s head coach rankings

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•about 10 hours•

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Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. (Chad Weaver, Blue & Gold)

On Tuesday morning, The Athletic college football writers Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel released their annual rankings of the top 25 head coaches in college football. After missing both lists last year, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman rose significantly.

Freeman is Feldman’s No. 6 boss in college football. On Mandel’s list, he ranks 10th. The third-year head coach led Notre Dame to the national championship game last season, and he won the program’s first and second major bowl games since the early 1990s.

“Freeman has put together a good staff, proven to be a terrific evaluator and grown immeasurably in his job,” Feldman said. “Last year, the 39-year-old out-coached a lot of excellent head coaches, including the No. 1 coach on this list [Georgia’s Kirby Smart] in the Sugar Bowl.”

Feldman also discussed the upgrades Freeman has made to the talent level in South Bend, as well as the “vibe” surrounding the Fighting Irish.

Mandel was complimentary of Freeman, but he wanted to see more.

“Though he only has a three-year body of work as a head coach, he’s one of just eight active coaches who’s coached in a national championship game,” Mandel said. “To get there required winning 14 games, capped by beating SEC champion Georgia and top-five foe Penn State in the Playoff.”

To read Feldman’s full top 25, click here. For Mandel’s, click here.

Notre Dame Tweets of the day

Big men from South Bend are getting paid.

Hannah Hidalgo is ready to take the Irish to new heights.

Survive and advance.

Quote of the day

“I was really proud of our guys for how we defended. We didn’t shoot our best. I didn’t think we played tremendously well offensively, but I thought we guarded at a high level.

“That’s what we talk about. At times this year, it hasn’t always been that way for us. We’ve really played through our offense. But I thought in order for us to come here and get a win, we really had to just be tough and gritty defensively. And I thought — despite giving up 110 in our last game — I thought the last few weeks we’ve been pretty tough and gritty defensively.”

— Notre Dame head men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry on Tuesday’s win over Pitt

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