Marcus Freeman Got It Done: He's Taking Notre Dame to the National Championship

Marcus Freeman leads Notre Dame to the National Championship after a thrilling Orange Bowl victory over Penn State.

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Marcus Freeman has returned elite status to Notre Dame

Die-hard Irish fans know their history.

Notre Dame history suggests that if an Irish head coach is going to make it in South Bend, his third season at the helm is when the big-time results kick in.

And here we sit, the Irish with two more major bowl wins in a week and a half than the program has had in the last three decades.

Marcus Freeman is different. He's the closest thing to a modern-day Frank Leahy that I have felt at Notre Dame in my 40 years of Irish life.

Between the work ethic, class, communication skills, family values, respect for Notre Dame, and increasing trophy case, he's earned his way into Notre Dame legend status.

IRISH WIN THE 2025 ORANGE BOWL#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/Ift6USdLUX

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 10, 2025

This is just the beginning, folks

Notre Dame is about to play for a national championship with a beaten up team that had obvious flaws all season.

Think about what that means for the future of the Freeman era.

Regardless of how the title game turns out, there will be even healthier more well-rounded Freeman-led Irish teams to come. Both the present and the future in South Bend are incredibly bright.

This is not meant as a slight to this magical 2024 squad, in fact, it's a compliment.

These players and coaches deserve all the credit in the world for what they've accomplished under brutal injury circumstances. And most importantly, Marcus Freeman has done two things nobody since Lou Holtz has at Notre Dame.

Freeman has gotten his teams to make game-changing plays in the biggest moments of the biggest games and has gotten more out of the team on the field than it looks like should be possible. A

ll of the players and coaches have done a magnificent job.

Do the Irish have one more win in them? Don't best against what Freeman and his coaching staff can do.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.

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