There’s been a lot of conversation this offseason around head coach Marcus Freeman’s future at Notre Dame and for good reason. Earlier this offseason, the young head coach was garnishing a lot of interest from NFL organizations, understandably so. The last two seasons Freeman is 24-4, took Notre Dame to its first national title game since 2012, ended a 30-year major bowl win drought, brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and has brought the Irish back into the annual championship discussion.
He’s never given a true, clear-cut answer about his future in South Bend but he’s talked about how special of a place Notre Dame is and he could see himself there for quite some time. We get questions in shows about Freeman’s future at Notre Dame and if he’ll be the head coach for years to come. Ideally, the answer is always ‘yes’ but as he likes to say ‘the future is uncertain’.
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Earlier this week, he sat down with Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, an Ohio State alum, and talked about their time at Ohio State, the current state of college football and his future with the Irish and the level of interest he has from NFL teams. Freeman’s answer when asked about the NFL did not disappoint and should put the minds at ease of thousands of Fighting Irish fans.
“I was intrigued by what the opportunity would be like in the NFL,” Freeman shared. “Ultimately, I declined to interview anywhere because I needed to hear those things and talk to those teams to know that I’m right where I’m supposed to be. That’s the reality of it. I have so much gratitude for them having an interest in me. But I wanted to talk to a couple of teams just to see what they were looking for.
“I wanted to know what they thought success in the NFL looked like,” Freeman continued. “It gave me an opportunity to sit down with my wife, to think, to pray, to talk about it and say we’re right where we need to be. I’m happy and really fulfilled in the position that I hold. As I think about my future, I want to retire one day from here, man. The future is uncertain; I say that all the time. I tell every recruit, I tell myself and I tell our players that the future’s uncertain. But this is such a special place that I plan on being here for a long time.”
That sentiment from the Fighting Irish head coach puts a lot of minds at ease. Recently, Notre Dame lost a recruiting battle to a top tier recruit because they were told that Freeman wouldn’t be in South Bend long term. Thankfully, we can put that narrative to rest.
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The expectations are at an all-time high for the fifth-year head coach. This the first time in his career that he’s had a returning starting quarterback who is a Preseason Heisman candidate, all three coordinators return and he has two returning defensive captains. Notre Dame is a top candidate to make a run to the CFP national championship game which would end their near 40-year title drought. Freeman is the right man for the job and now we can say with some certainty that he’ll be the man for the job for years to come.
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