What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said about NFL coaching cycle rumors
Marcus Freeman is having his best season yet at Notre Dame in his third year as the program’s head coach. The Fighting Irish are ranked No. 6 in the country, have a 9-1 record and are knocking on the door of a College Football Playoff appearance. And a first-round playoff game at home in South Bend at that.
National Football League pundits have taken notice.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler named Freeman a candidate for the upcoming NFL head coaching cycle. Silly season, as it’s called by those who cover college football.
Blue & Gold asked Freeman about his name being floated out there by two reputable sources who cover the league. We framed it as a two-part question — would Freeman ever have interest in coaching in the NFL? And what does it say about the current state of Notre Dame football that he is thought of as an option to make such a move?
Here is everything Freeman said:
“I think it’s just an example of what I tell our players every day; with team glory and with team success comes individual recognition and individual glory. And I know and everybody, hopefully, in this program understands that without everybody in this program accomplishing their roles that we’re not going to achieve the success that we want on the football field on Saturday. And so when you do do your job, and everybody gets their job done and you have success, there are going to be certain individuals each week, certain parts of the year, that have individual recognition and individual glory.
“But I know, and we know that, listen, I mean, it takes us all to achieve the success that we aspire to have. And so that, to me, is reflection — your name is floating out there, and it’s a reflection of how this program is playing and performing every day and on Saturdays.
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Marcus Freeman
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“As for me, I ever never even — I try not to waste time thinking about an uncertain future. I tell our players and all the time, your future is uncertain. So I try not to waste time thinking about things that aren’t in the moment. And so I haven’t spent any time really thinking about what the future will provide.
“Do I ever want to coach in the NFL? I have no clue. I don’t even know what that entails really right now because I’ve never done it. But I’m just focused on staying here in the present and getting this team ready to have a great Thursday practice and hopefully putting in the work to achieve the outcome that we want on Saturday.”
Freeman has a record of 28-8 since the start of the 2022 season, his first in charge of Notre Dame. Ten of those victories were over ranked opponents at the time of kickoff. That ties Frank Leahy for the all-time program record for ranked wins in a head coach’s first three seasons with the Irish.
Freeman has a chance to set the record on his own this weekend. Notre Dame plays No. 19 Army (9-0) at Yankee Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday.
