Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman Nominated for Major National Coaching Award

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman receives national recognition with a nomination for a prestigious coaching award, highlighting his impact this season.

Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a turnover on downs by the Louisville Cardinals in the second quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Freeman recognized for on-field and off-field contributions

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman has been nominated for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach Of The Year award.

Since becoming the head man in South Bend, Freeman and his family have immersed themselves in the community and have helped accomplish some terrific things.

On the field is where this nomination takes an interesting turn and I feel is up for debate. Notre Dame has one of the worst losses in college football this year. At home. As over a 3 TD favorite. To Northern Illinois. Isn't this disqualifying to be coach of the year? Maybe. But maybe not. Hear me out.

☘️

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 “𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘳” 𝘉𝘳𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥.… pic.twitter.com/oas5eg26Ll

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 16, 2024

Despite horrifically long injured list, Notre Dame keeps on winning

Despite an injury list that prints out longer than a typical CVS receipt, Notre Dame just keeps on winning and is favored to do so in each of the remaining six games this season with a defense that is holding steady and an offense on the rise. If this continues, the Irish will be trending up through October and November. This makes them a dangerous team.

Should Marcus Freeman go from a week 2 loss to Northern Illinois at home, to an 11-1 playoff team, it'd be an unbelievable turnaround. And when you consider how decimated the roster is due to injury, this feat becomes even more impressive.

These are all bigger-picture goals , the ideal outcome that is fun to ponder, but for now, Marcus Freeman's entire focus is on winning 1 game per week. That's it and that's all. The Irish are in a 6-week playoff elimination battle where the name of the game is "survive and advance".

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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