Notre Dame football just got an appraisal that puts the spotlight on Marcus Freeman’s key hire last year originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had three bad games to start the 2025 College Football season that ultimately undid the program’s bid to make the CFP field this past December. While Notre Dame lost the first two games by four points, the defensive performance in each, particularly a 41-40 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies in South Bend, plus ceding up 30 points to the Purdue Boilermakers in a Week 3 win, spurred a turning point.
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The Fighting Irish fought back for the rest of the season, though admittedly against much weaker competition than the Miami Hurricanes or Aggies. Still, their defensive woes from the beginning of the season were held against them enough to keep Notre Dame out of the 2025/2026 CFP field.
Was Marcus Freeman’s hiring of Chris Ash to replace Al Golden, who engineered a run to the CFP the previous season, a good one? 2025 was tough to tell. CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford made it clear that 2026 will be a true determining factor, calling the Fighting Irish’s defense the best in the country.
“Defensively, Notre Dame may be as talented as any team in the country. The front seven has size, power and NFL upside, while the secondary features long, versatile defensive backs built to handle today’s spread offenses. Few teams can match the talent Notre Dame has at cornerback with Leonard Moore and Christian Gray, both of whom played pivotal coverage roles in the national championship game against Ohio State two seasons ago,” Crawford.
Notre Dame lost several coaches to NFL opportunities, but replaced them with Big Ten position coaches for linebackers and corners. Beefing up the interior defensive line with the Oregon Ducks’ Tionne Gray and Pitt Panthers’ Francis Brewu, not to mention Alabama Crimson Tide EDGE Keon Keeley and Colorado Buffaloes DB DJ McKinney in the secondary.
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It’ll be on Ash to make sure every cog is moving efficiently to make good on these enormous expectations.
Marcus Freeman was briefly linked to the NFL this offseason
As a former Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker and longtime defensive coordinator at stops like Purdue and the Cincinnati Bearcats, the latter of which made huge jumps as a program, Freeman is also going to shoulder some of the glory or blame, depending on what happens in 2026.
If the defense falters at any point again, or particularly if the Fighting Irish lose close games due to clock management, Freeman may find the pressure from Notre Dame’s fanbase overwhelming. The NFL, which he was linked to this past offseason, could look like a more intriguing option.
