Where Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman ranks in CBS 2022 college football coach rankings

A panel of CBS Sports experts haven’t forgotten this glaring yet simultaneously hiding in plain sight fact about Marcus Freeman: he’s a first-year head coach. He’s never endured the August to December rigors of being the man in charge of a college football program, especially one as prestigious as Notre Dame.

CBS released its annual Power Five (plus Notre Dame) coach rankings Tuesday starting with the 40 coaches who finished outside of the top 25. Freeman was one of them. The panel placed him at No. 49. Here’s the full excerpt on Freeman’s ranking:

CBS Sports: “There’s plenty of confidence in Marcus Freeman already. The 36-year-old former Ohio State linebacker has been seen as a rising star in coaching circles. He spent four seasons as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, helping build the foundation for a team that reached the College Football Playoff last season before arriving for 2021. That one season as defensive coordinator was all the Irish needed to see as they quickly moved to name him head coach after Brian Kelly left for LSU. While hopes are high, he has big shoes to fill in South Bend.”

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The natural reaction among Notre Dame fans might be that Freeman was not given a fair shake, but consider some of the coaches he has already been deemed better than: former Alabama offensive coordinator and current Maryland head coach Mike Locksley (No. 50), Nebraska head coach Scott Frost (No. 53), former Georgia defensive coordinator and current Oregon head coach Dan Lanning (No. 54) and Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards (No. 55).

Those names are notable for different reasons. Locksley and Lanning won national championships as top assistants at their former stops. Frost and Edwards were once seen as can’t-miss hires but have since sputtered to different degrees. Nebraska has not had a winning season under Frost. Arizona State has been middling under Edwards. The last thing Freeman wants — or Notre Dame needs — is to have the same sort of flameout.

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Ironically, Freeman also came in ahead of a pair of fellow former Notre Dame defensive coordinators; Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea (No. 57) and Duke head coach Mike Elko (No. 64). Lea went 2-10 in his first season at Vandy. Elko is entering his first season at Duke. Freeman ranking ahead of those two shows recruiting prowess and general perception matter. There were no parameters for the panel in formulating the rankings. Pure subjectivity. For having just an 0-1 record as a head coach, No. 49 isn’t so bad for Freeman. Plenty of room to rise.

Here’s a full list of the rankings.

CBS Sports 2022 Power Five coach rankings (No. 26-65)

26. Mike Leach, Mississippi State

27. Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh

28. Chip Kelly, UCLA

29. David Shaw, Stanford

30. Jeff Brohm, Purdue

31. Chris Klieman, Kansas State

32. Billy Napier, Florida

33. Josh Heupel, Tennessee

34. Jeff Hafley, Boston College

35. Sonny Dykes, TCU

36. Greg Schiano, Rutgers

37. Jonathan Smith, Oregon State

38. Bret Bielema, Illinois

39. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

40. Tom Allen, Indiana

41. Shane Beamer, South Carolina

42. Lance Leipold, Kansas

43. Scott Satterfield, Louisville

44. Justin Wilcox, California

45. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

46. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

47. Mike Norvell, Florida State

48. Bryan Harsin, Auburn

49. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

50. Mike Locksley, Maryland

51. Kalen DeBoer, Washington

52. Neal Brown, West Virginia

53. Scott Frost, Nebraska

54. Dan Lanning, Oregon

55. Herm Edwards, Arizona State

56. Dino Babers, Syracuse

57. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

58. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech

59. Karl Dorrell, Colorado

60. Tony Elliott, Virginia

61. Jedd Fisch, Arizona

62. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

63. Jake Dickert, Washington State

64. Mike Elko, Duke

65. Brent Pry, Virginia Tech