Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman makes 2025 Dodd Trophy watch list
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is in the running to run it back.
The 2024 Dodd Trophy winner as the coach of the year in college football, Freeman was one of 26 head coaches who were named to a preseason watch list for the award on Monday.
Freeman is the second winner of the Dodd Trophy in Notre Dame history. Brian Kelly was the first Fighting Irish head coach to secure the coveted piece of hardware in 2018.
Only two coaches have won the award two total times; Penn State’s Joe Paterno in 1981 and 2005 and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder in 1998 and 2012. Even rarer air? Winning it twice in a row. Obviously, that’s never been done before. Freeman is looking to become the first coach to accomplish that feat.
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It’s going to take another stellar season for Notre Dame for Freeman to be in the running at the end of the 2025 season. He guided the Fighting Irish to an 11-1 regular season record in 2024. Notre Dame’s only loss was to Northern Illinois in Week 2. The Irish ran through the rest of the slate with relative ease.
In the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame held serve with a home win over Indiana in round one. Then Freeman and the Irish navigated the New Year’s tragedy in New Orleans to beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame got to the national championship game for the first time since the 2012 season with an Orange Bowl victory over Penn State.
Notre Dame opens the upcoming season at Miami on Aug. 31.
2025 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List
| Coach | School | Conference |
| Bret Bielema | Illinois | Big Ten |
| Jeff Brohm | Louisville | ACC |
| Curt Cignetti | Indiana | Big Ten |
| Mario Cristobal | Miami (FL) | ACC |
| Matt Campbell | Iowa State | Big 12 |
| Spencer Danielson | Boise State | Mountain West |
| Ryan Day | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Kalen DeBoer | Alabama | SEC |
| Kenny Dillingham | Arizona State | Big 12 |
| Eliah Drinkwitz | Mizzou | SEC |
| Mike Elko | Texas A&M | SEC |
| James Franklin | Penn State | Big Ten |
| Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | Independent |
| Josh Heupel | Tennessee | SEC |
| Brian Kelly | LSU | SEC |
| Brent Key | Georgia Tech | ACC |
| Chris Klieman | Kansas State | Big 12 |
| Dan Lanning | Oregon | Big Ten |
| Joey McGuire | Texas Tech | Big 12 |
| Jeff Monken | Army | AAC |
| Steve Sarkisian | Texas | SEC |
| Ryan Silverfield | Memphis | AAC |
| Kalani Sitake | BYU | Big 12 |
| Kirby Smart | Georgia | SEC |
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson | ACC |
| Brent Venables | Oklahoma | SEC |
