Marcus Freeman and Eddie George's Ohio State connection 'had nothing to do with' Notre Dame vs. Tennessee State becoming reality

Marcus Freeman batted it aside like a blocker. Eddie George hit it with a verbal stiff-arm as firm as ones he used to deliver on the field.

The two former Ohio State stars turned college football head coaches will face off against each other on Sept. 2, 2023, when Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish host George’s Tennessee State Tigers. It will be Notre Dame’s first game against an HBCU school or an FCS program.

It’s a first in both these programs’ long histories, one they decided was worthy of a joint press conference Wednesday afternoon in South Bend a day after announcing the game. George, Freeman, Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick and Tennessee State AD Mikki Allen sat on a stage in the Notre Dame Stadium media room and discussed how it came together.

Or, at first, how it didn’t come together.

This is not a game sparked by Freeman and George’s connection as ex-Buckeyes stars. They’re thrilled to play it, make no mistake, but their common thread did not light the fuse on scheduling it. Each began their comments with a firm downplaying of the idea.

“It’s going to be a storyline that both of us played at Ohio State, but this is so much bigger than Ohio State,” Freeman said. “This is about Notre Dame and its first opportunity to play an HBCU. That’s where our focus is going to be.”

George matter-of-factly confirmed.

“It had nothing to do with it,” he said. “Me and Marcus never really talked about playing each other based off Ohio State. It’s coincidence.”

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Yes, they first met nearly 20 years ago, but they are not former teammates or close confidants. They’re two standouts from a program full of them, connected by mutual experience and now a shared profession. The 48-year-old George’s college career ended in 1995 – 10 seasons before Freeman, 36, enrolled at Ohio State. He was 10 years old when George won the Heisman Trophy.

“I grew up in Ohio watching Eddie George and other great Ohio State players,” Freeman said. “I grew up more of a fan than anything. We got to know each other when I was at Ohio State and after my time at Ohio State. Other than that, the personal connection, it ends right there.”

Notre Dame made its own decision to explore a game against an HBCU, and once it identified Tennessee State as the best pairing, Swarbrick made first contact. It turned out the Tigers could fit Sept. 2 – the week after Notre Dame plays Navy in Dublin – in their schedule.

Swarbrick’s intrigue with Tennessee State dates to the 1990s and his time as chairman of the Indiana Sports Corp. While there, he was involved in putting on the Circle City Classic, an annual football game in Indianapolis between two HBCUs. The Tigers played in it four times between 1997 and 2005.

“The excitement around that event, their alumni coming to our city, bands, the game,” Swarbrick said. “It had always been a goal to try and bring some of that here if we could figure out a way to do it. Our scheduling matrix is so complicated that you’re always trying to find that opportunity. It presented itself with the way this year’s schedule worked out.

“We were thrilled when we reached out that [President Dr. Glenda] Glover, Dr. Allen and Eddie were enthused about the opportunity.”

Swarbrick’s research into Tennessee State and other HBCUs when trying to identify the most logical one made him equally excited.

“I had no idea how many national championships they won,” Swarbrick said. “You see that number and say, ‘This is a pretty good match.’ They’ve won more than we have. The thing that struck me the most as we considered our options was the trajectory of this program.

“What they’re achieving – whether it’s the evaluation of adding hockey in partnership with the Preds and NHL, the investments in the football program – it just felt right. This was a program in the right position at the right time to do it. We’re excited about the additional programming we can do around this game. There’s opportunity for the presidents to do some things together, faculty, certainly the bands beyond halftime.”

It’s about much more than a game and the two coaches involved.