Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame: A Match Made in College Football Heaven
A quick glance at Marcus Freeman's resume previous to 2021 wouldn't scream anything about him being a long-term leader of the storied Notre Dame football program.
The former Ohio high school football standout played college ball at Ohio State where the Buckeyes were a national power during his time. After a brief NFL career, he got into coaching at Ohio State as a graduate assistant.
But fast forward just over 20 years and the former star linebacker who chose to play at Ohio State over Notre Dame, is now set to be the head football coach at Notre Dame for the long term.
Hiring an inexperienced head coach to lead the Notre Dame football team hasn't ended well since before World War II, but Freeman, who was certainly a hard hire to make, seems to be adjusting and fitting in even better than one could have hoped.
Marcus Freeman Agrees to Contract Extension with Notre Dame
Notre Dame announced a contract extension with Freeman on Sunday night that will keep the head coach in South Bend for six more years total. This comes not long after Freeman's name was being floated around as a possible candidate for the Chicago Bears head coaching opening.
I don't know how real those rumors were as I thought it was a negotiation tactic from the start, but regardless, this will keep those rumors from coming in the immediate future.
There are several reasons for Notre Dame fans to be excited about the extension, the key ones of which we'll quickly cover.
Freeman Has Improved Roster Talent and Depth
Freeman stated from Day One of becoming the head coach that as important as anything was going to be the recruiting aspect of the job. He would be the lead recruiter as head coach, but each assistant coach would have to prioritize the recruiting part of the job as well.
That has resulted in a deeper roster that has been able to withstand a slew of injuries in 2024. For most teams, losing multiple key pieces of the defensive line as well as arguably the nation's top cornerback to injury would mean a fall from grace. For Notre Dame it has simply meant "next man up" in 2024 and that's a direct result of outstanding recruiting but also the development that comes along with it, which leads to another key part of Marcus Freeman's success at Notre Dame.
Marcus Freeman's Ability to Hire Outstanding Assistant Coaches
One of the greatest skills a head coach at any level can have is hiring quality assistant coaches. Freeman hasn't been perfect at this and some of it isn't exactly his fault, but for the large majority there have been huge hits in who he has been able to bring in.
Currently the makeup of Notre Dame's coordinators is among the very best in the nation. Al Golden has been nothing short of phenomenal since being brought in to run the defense in 2022, and Mike Denbrock has been a great addition since being hired last off-season.
It's deeper than that though as Notre Dame has clearly put a different priority in special teams since Freeman's hiring with Marty Biagi being the second of the special teams coordinators in the tenure. Joe Rudolph is another hit as the offensive line coach, taking an incredibly inexperienced group and making them one of the nation's better lines in 2024.
Furthermore, Deland McCullough has upgraded Notre Dame's running back room to be among the most elite nationally and appears to be in the running for his own head coaching job soon while defensive backs coach Mike Mickens is as good as any at his job nationally, although he was hired during the Brian Kelly regime.
Questions remain at some places, most specifically wide receiver, but three seasons in the returns are significantly more in the win column than the loss column when it comes to Freeman's assistant coaching hires.
Marcus Freeman Understands Notre Dame
It wouldn't have been easy to predict a few short years ago but Marcus Freeman showed he understood the whole "Notre Dame thing" early in his tenure.
He was quick to welcome back former players that had been somewhat pushed to the side for years before.
Freeman embraces the history and accepts it as a challenge instead of making excuses for shortcomings. His regular meetings and visits with the likes of Notre Dame legends Lou Holtz and Jerome Bettis the last few years can't be quantified in terms of wins and loses, but can't be overlooked, either. Things are different at Notre Dame than most other places - that's not to say they're better or worse - they are undeniably different though and embracing and learning how to manage that is incredibly important.
If you flip on a Notre Dame men's or women's home basketball game, there is a great chance you'll see Freeman along with at least one family member sitting courtside. The same for when the men's lacrosse team is making its seemingly annual run deep into May, chances are high you'll see Freeman cheering as hard as anyone.
Freeman's time at Notre Dame certainly hasn't been perfect. You only have to look back to early-September to see one of the most embarrassing home losses in the history of Notre Dame Stadium, when a very mid Northern Illinois team pushed Freeman's Fighting Irish around for the better part of 60 minutes.
It's what Notre Dame, led by Freeman, has done since that that matters though - and that is turn into a legitimate national championship contender entering the College Football Playoff.
Freeman preaches to "choose hard" instead of simply restating the overused and recycled "Four for Forty" saying that has gone along with Notre Dame for years. Doing so has him set to stay at the university for at least the next six years, and his work and growth has him in position to take Notre Dame football to heights it hasn't seen in decades.
There are no guarantees as to how the 2024 season ultimately ends for Notre Dame and Freeman, nor are there any for how his tenure ultimately goes, but Notre Dame is clearly an elite football program three years into Freeman's tenure and the path to being a true a national championship contender on an annual basis the best it has looked since Lou Holtz's peak years.