ESPN ranks Marcus Freeman as a top coache in college football

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was recently named to the preseason Dodd Award watch list, as he’s viewed as one of the best in college.

ESPN backed that up, as it recently ranked the top head coaches in college. There were just three others ranked ahead of Freeman: Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Ohio State’s Ryan Day. It’s hard to argue with his placement on the list, as the three above him have each won at least one national championship, but that could be changing this fall.

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Freeman has a team that is built for a deep run in the College Football Playoff, which could see him making a jump on this list after the season concludes. ESPN’s rationale for ranking him inside the top-4 is fairly simple, all the winning. Freeman has the most bowl wins among FBS head coaches since 2022 with five, along with joining the Hoosiers in having a 10-game winning streak in each of the last two years.

Max Olson explained why he ranked Freeman No. 6, saying the margin between him Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian is extremely close. He gave both of them an advantage due to their teams changing conferences and still winning.

Regardless of where Freeman ranked according to Olson, it’s pretty obvious that he’s one of the top coaches in all of college football.