Notre Dame is just one win away from winning its first national championship in 36 years. When the Fighting Irish take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Monday night in Atlanta, it'll mark the first national title game appearance since 2012 for Notre Dame.
A big reason for Notre Dame's success during the 2024-25 season? Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman. Freeman, who is just 38 yards old, will ironically be playing against his alma mater in Ohio State. He's been in South Bend since 2021, hired by former Irish head coach Brian Kelly as the Irish's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach four years ago.
But since being named Kelly's replacement in December of 2021, Freeman has built this Notre Dame program in his own image. Over just three seasons, Freeman has brought Notre Dame to heights thought to be unattainable, with three straight playoff victories. The head coach has also elevated Notre Dame's recruiting, and created a belief within his team that the Irish are supposed to win on these big stages, not just play on them. But the journey Freeman has had to take to get here is a long one, and there were a few bumps along the road.
Freeman bringing Notre Dame to the biggest stage it's been on in over a decade shouldn't surprise you. His coaching journey suggests he's been building to reach this exact moment for a while.
Let's take a look at how Freeman led Notre Dame to just one win away from its first national title in 36 years.
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Marcus Freeman coaching history
May 2010: Freeman retires from NFL due to heart condition
The former linebacker from Dayton, Ohio, played five seasons at Ohio State under Jim Tressel. Following a successful career in Columbus, he was drafted in the fifth round by the Chicago Bears.
He was waived in September, and had brief stints with the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans. He retired in May of 2010, after a physical with the Indianapolis Colts revealed he had an enlarged heart valve.
2010: Freeman joins Ohio State as graduate assistant
The same year he retired, he joined Jim Tressel's coaching staff as a graduate assistant. In 2010, the Buckeyes finished 12-1, with a victory in the Sugar Bowl.
MORE: Jim Tressel on watching Marcus Freeman take off at ND
2011-12: Linebackers coach at Kent State
Freeman was then hired by Kent State, spending the 2011 and 2012 seasons with the Golden Flashes as the linebackers coach.
2013-2016: Purdue coaching staff
He was on-staff at Purdue for four seasons, coaching the linebackers each season, and being elevated to co-defensive coordinator for the Boilermakers' 2016 season.
2017-2020: Cincinnati defensive coordinator
He spent three seasons at Cincinnati, where he coached with his former Ohio State linebackers coach, Luke Fickell. While at Cincinnati, Freeman helped the Bearcats finish as the top-ranked scoring defense in the AAC from 2018 and 2019. Cincy led the conference in scoring and total defense in 2018, and was a top-15 unit nationally in those categories. The Bearcats defense in 2020-21 finished ranked inside the top-20 nationally in several categories.
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Jan. 2021: Brian Kelly adds Freeman to Notre Dame's staff
Freeman had offers from LSU and Notre Dame, and decided to join Notre Dame's staff before the Irish's 2021 season. His first season in South Bend, he helped the Irish defense rank sixth in the nation with 15 interceptions and four defensive touchdowns. Notre Dame also had 23 turnovers, and was a top-20 unit in scoring and third-down defense.
That season, the Irish finished 11-1, with their lone loss coming at home against Cincinnati. The Bearcats, under Fickell, made it to the CFP that season. It marked a fifth-straight season with double-digit wins for Brian Kelly, with a New Year's Six Bowl bid on the horizon.
But just days after Notre Dame's regular season ended, Kelly shocked the college football world and bolted for LSU.
Nov. 29, 2021: Kelly departs for LSU
The news sent shockwaves across college football. Kelly had the all-time win record as a head coach at the school when he left and he became the first Notre Dame coach to leave the school for another college head coaching job. As for Kelly's departure, it wasn't exactly handled gracefully. Most of his coaches and players found the news out through Twitter. Coaches and Notre Dame boosters and administrators were reportedly blindsided with the news. One assistant saw the news as he was leaving a recruiting visit:
This is usually how these things go, but Brian Kelly has ghosted everyone at Notre Dame. Just spoke to one assistant who saw reports on his phone tonight as he was exiting a recruit's home: "The news broke when I walked out of the house, so I look like a f----- a--hole."
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 30, 2021
Kelly sent a text message to the team confirming the news of his departure, and apologized for not telling the news to them in person. His final meeting with his team—at 7 a.m. on a Tuesday morning— reportedly lasted less than two minutes, without Kelly taking any questions. Upon his arrival at LSU, he told reporters that he wanted to be in an environment where he had the resources to win a national championship. He said last week those comments were misinterpreted.
Unsurprisingly, Notre Dame fans weren't exactly happy. As far as where Notre Dame would turn to for its next head coach was a giant question mark.
The biggest name to emerge in the Irish's coaching search was Fickell. He was a successful head coach at Cincinnati for the last three seasons, and was leading the Bearcats to a historic CFP season in 2021. Fickell was also Catholic, and coached Freeman when he played at Ohio State, as well as coaching with him in Columbus in 2010. Freeman also spent three seasons on Fickell's staff at Cincinatti.
Although the head coach didn't take any interviews during the Bearcats' playoff run, he emerged as ND's top candidate.
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Dec. 2021: Notre Dame names Freeman as its next head coach
Instead, Notre Dame made Freeman, who was just 35 years old at the time, as the Irish's next head coach. The team's reaction to being surprised with the news of Freeman's hiring says it all:
a player's coach@Marcus_Freeman1 | #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/pf9E1OygA8
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 3, 2021
Some players were even lobbying for Freeman to get the job before it became official. Irish safety Kyle Hamilton, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens, endorsed Freeman in an emergency podcast he recorded following Kelly's departure.
"Since he’s come in here it feels like we’ve known him for years," Hamilton said of Freeman. "He’s even keel, he’s the same guy every single day. He’s a great leader, knows when to get on you, knows when to cheer you up. He has a great sense of how we’re feeling. He’s a realist in the way he talks to us as a defense."
But Freeman's success in South Bend didn't come overnight. In his first game as the Irish's head coach in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State, the Irish blew a 28-7 halftime lead and lost 37-35.
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In his first full season as head coach in 2022, Notre Dame had a shocking 26-21 loss to Marshall in its home opener. It marked ND's first loss to an unranked, non-Power Five team as a Top 10 squad since 1996 (vs. Air Force). It also snapped Notre Dame's 42-game winning streak against unranked foes as a ranked team. The Irish finished 9-4 that season.
In 2023, Notre Dame lost in Week 4 to Ohio State 17-14 at home. Freeman received criticism after his defense had just 10 men on the field for the Buckeyes' last two offensive plays—the last one resulting in OSU's game-winning touchdown. The Irish's 33-20 road loss to Louisville knocked the Irish out of playoff contention entirely, and they finished 10-3.
Despite the seemingly slow start, Freeman has been building in South Bend. Recruiting-wise, he's significantly elevated the Irish's recruiting classes, getting top-10 classes in two cycles over the last four years. He's also been able to successfully utilize the transfer portal, landing star quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard, receiver Beaux Collins safety Jordan Clark and kicker Mitch Jeter.
Kelly's recruiting classes had an average national ranking of 12th overall. Freeman being able to improve the Irish's talent pool on the recruiting trail and in the portal while still maintaining Notre Dame's high academic standards is massively impressive.
In 2024, everything Freeman has been building towards is coming to fruition. Despite an embarrassing home loss in Week 2 to Northern Illinois—which had several rightfully questioning Notre Dame's legitimacy as a playoff team—the Irish haven't lost since. Notre Dame's defense has the No. 2 ranked scoring and passing defense in the country (behind Ohio State, of course), and is a top-10 total defense.
But there's also been a massive shift that's taken place under Freeman in just three seasons. Notre Dame is nationally likable for the first time in what feels like forever. Part of that might be due to Freeman's predecessor, Kelly, having a prickly personality.
Another huge part of that is the culture that Freeman has implemented in South Bend, as well. You can see Freeman's love and passion he has for both his players and for Notre Dame.
@espn #MarcusFreeman was HYPED after #NotreDame's fight song 👏 #CFB #collegefootball #football #cfbpostseason #cfbplayoffs ♬ original sound - ESPN
He's also created a belief within the locker room that not only is Notre Dame supposed to play in these big stages, it's supposed to win on them, too.
Previously, Notre Dame was 0-3 in national title games and playoff appearances since the BCS system was put into place in 1998. The Irish are 3-0 in this year's playoff alone, and have beaten some of the best teams in the country in Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.
"What do I think the country is learning about our program?" QB Riley Leonard said after the Orange Bowl win. "I think the biggest thing is just [that] culture wins. You see a bunch of talented guys across our locker room, but you can see that anywhere in the country. I think at the end of the day it's [about] which guys are putting their bodies on the line and doing everything they can for the man next to them.
"Nobody is thinking about draft stocks or next year or anything like that, any type of individual glory. We're all thinking about the man beside us. I think we kind of proved throughout the season that culture wins, and [Notre Dame] is a special place for a reason."
There's no question that Notre Dame is the underdog in Monday night's game. Ohio State is an eight-point favorite, and the Buckeyes have looked indomitable in their three playoff games. In the last six CFP title games, the average margin of victory is 27.8 points.
Not to mention the Irish are dealing with a slew of injuries, to star running back Jeremiyah Love, along the offensive line, and receiver Beaux Collins is listed as questionable to play.
Regardless of how Monday night shakes out for Notre Dame, you can assume the Irish could be back here. Notre Dame doesn't play in a conference, with five ACC opponents on its schedule every year.
As long as the Irish win 10 or 11 games each season, a playoff berth in the expanded 12-team field is almost a given. Not to mention ND being unaffiliated with a conference means it gets to keep every penny of playoff revenue for itself—an entire $20 million. This season feels like it could be the start of something unprecedented at Notre Dame, thanks in large part to what Freeman has done in just three short seasons.
Freeman may not want to make Notre Dame playing in this game about him. But the 39-year-old head coach deserves a ton of credit for transforming the culture in South Bend that's led Notre Dame to its first national title game in over a decade.