Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is not likely to leave South Bend for any of the recently open head coaching jobs. According to CBS Sports, athletic directors from both Penn State and Florida have reached out to gauge interest from Freeman. In both cases, those ADs were simply told “no”.
This recent gauging of interest report comes on the heels of LSU firing Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly was the head coach at Notre Dame when he hired Marcus Freeman as the Fighting Irish’s defensive coordinator. Freeman did weigh in on the dismissal of his former head coach.
“I've said this previously — you never want to see anybody lose their job," Freeman said about his former boss. “Coach Kelly gave me an opportunity to come here, and I'm always rooting for him. But it's also the profession we've chosen. We know that can be the result of choosing this profession."
Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish are currently one of the top 12 teams in the country and poised for a playoff run. The Irish are 38-11 under Freeman since becoming the head coach after Kelly. They have also won 19 of their last 23 games under Freeman. During his time with the program, Notre Dame has been in the post season every year under Freeman as either an interim head coach or head coach. A Fiesta bowl loss as the interim head coach, a Gator bowl win, a Sun bowl win, three wins in the college football playoff before losing in the National Championship game, all with Freeman at the helm.
Presently, Notre Dame is the No. 12 team in the country and well within range of making the college football playoff. Unlike most other programs, Notre Dame does not belong to a conference and therefore does not have a conference title path to lean on.
The five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids even if ranked outside the top 12 with seeding to be determined by the CFB committee's final rankings.
However, if the Fighting Irish continue their 2025 season as it has gone, making the playoff as an at large bid should have a high probability.
Notre Dame has a modest remaining schedule, including games against Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Stanford and the almost 100-year tradition of playing Navy. When the College Football Playoff selection committee meets next week, there is a good chance of Notre Dame being within range of at-large consideration.
Presently, Notre Dame will contend with the likes of the four teams currently ranked in the top 12 nationally that won’t win the SEC conference, the two nationally ranked Big Ten schools that won’t win the Big Ten conference, as well as the non-winner in the ACC.
The eight Power 4 programs with head coaching vacancies will do their due diligence within their respective coaching searches. Barring something unforeseen, they will most likely need to do so without Freeman being a realistic candidate. The other hugely significant job opening on the top tier of teams LSU, has not reached out to gauge interest, per the report previously cited.
Freeman’s Fighting Irish attempt to solidify their playoff future, starting with a road trip to Boston. Notre Dame will take on Boston College with a 3:30pm eastern kickoff, game broadcasting on ESPN.
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- Steve Sarkisian reportedly interested in leaving Texas for NFL openings
- Cam Newton nearly comes to blows with a mascot on ESPN
- Paul Finebaum remains sold on one name for Florida opening
- UNC fans think Bill Belichick resigned to join Duke's coaching staff because of a satirical story
Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the first five seeds will be conference winners.