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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman proving to be historically good

On3 imageby:Todd Burlage12/10/24

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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. (Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)

One of the favorite talking points that esteemed Blue & Gold Illustrated senior editor Lou Somogyi frequently shared before his passing in 2021 was how after three seasons on the job, what you see is almost always what you’re going to get with a Notre Dame head football coach. 

Somogyi summed up his theory this way in one of his terrific “The Firth Quarter” columns.

“Generally, you will find that a coach’s winning percentage at Notre Dame after Year 3 isn’t dramatically altered throughout the duration of his career,” Somogyi wrote, in part. “And when you are at a tradition-rich program that ranks among the top 10 in history — Notre Dame, USC, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, et al. — evidence is needed by Year 3 to make the fan base and administration truly believe ‘we’ve hit the jackpot with this coach.’”

Well, using Somogyi’s theory as the foundation of this story, Notre Dame appears to have absolutely hit the jackpot with third-year head coach Marcus Freeman.

The Irish skipper is 30-8 in his three full seasons on the job for a an impressive 79-percent winning mark, which rates alongside any other Notre Dame head coach through three seasons.

And Freeman’s team didn’t just beat its opponents this season, it throttled ‘em, in all facets of the game. 

Notre Dame enters its playoff game against Indiana on Dec. 20, ranked No. 3 nationally in scoring offense (39.8 ppg) and No. 3 in scoring defense (13.6 ppg).

Historically Speaking

We have to go all the way back to 1966 to find the last time Notre Dame demonstrated that kind of balanced superiority when it finished ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense (36.2 ppg) and No. 2 in scoring defense (3.8 ppg). It pitched six shutouts in 10 games that season, finished 9-0-1, and won a national championship under third-year head coach Ara Parseghian

For more perspective, in the last 75 years since 1949, Notre Dame has finished a season ranked in the top 10 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense only five times.

And Freeman – who was named today one of nine finalists for the FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award – is ready this season to do it two years in a row after his Irish finished No. 7 in the country in scoring offense (39.2 ppg) and No. 7 in scoring defense (15.9 ppg) in 2023.

Freeman has beaten 11 ranked opponents, the most by any Irish head coach in program history through three seasons. He beat six bowl eligible teams this year, tying for the most in the country during the regular season. 

And also under Freeman, Notre Dame begins its playoffs with a +26.3-point scoring margin, which easily leads the nation. 

A 10-game winning streak to finish this season, a chance to host a first-round playoff game, first- and second-year Irish players making plays all over the field from a roster that’s so deep and talented that Notre Dame seamlessly survived key injuries without a hiccup, it’s been an impressive season. 

And lest we forget, Freeman just inked the 12th best recruiting class in the country. 

Simply put, Notre Dame’s football program under Freeman is as healthy as it has been since Lou Holtz coached here, and there is no reason to believe this Irish team isn’t good enough to beat all comers in the 12-team playoff field. 

I predicted in the preseason that Notre Dame was so talented and its schedule so favorable that it would make the CFP, win two games in it, and set a single-season program record with 13 victories. 

I’m standing by it.

And I’m also standing by Somogyi’s third-year theory for an Irish head coach, and already proclaiming that Notre Dame hit the jackpot with the hiring of Marcus Freeman.  

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