Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman lands long-term extension
Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman has agreed to a long-term extension that will make him among the highest-paid coaches in the country, a Notre Dame official confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.
It is believed to be a four-year extension that secures him for six more years in South Bend, according to a source. Freeman had two years remaining on his current deal.
"I am grateful for the support of the Board of Trustees, led by John Veihmeyer, President Fr. Bob Dowd, C.S.C., and Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua," Freeman said in a prepared statement. "The investment they continue to pour into our program is invaluable to our student-athletes and staff. This commitment goes well beyond myself, as they are dedicated to ensuring all aspects of our program are competitive within the upper echelon of college football."
Freeman, in his third season with Notre Dame, led the No. 7 Irish to an 11-1 record and a first-round College Football Playoff game against No. 10 Indiana at home on Friday. Freeman rallied the Irish to 10 straight wins following their stunning Sept. 7 home loss to Northern Illinois and holds a 30-9 record in his career with the program.
It's the third time Notre Dame has qualified for the CFP (2018, 2020), but the first under Freeman. The winner will face No. 2 Georgia on Jan. 1 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Notre Dame promoted Freeman from defensive coordinator to head coach in 2021 after Brian Kelly left to become LSU's head coach. In 2022, Freeman's first season as a head coach, the Irish finished 9-4 with a win against South Carolina in the Gator Bowl. Last year, Notre Dame finished 10-3 with a win against Oregon State in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. He became the third Notre Dame head coach to post a 10-win season in each of his first two years with the program.
Prior to joining Notre Dame, Freeman spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati.
Inside Marcus Freeman’s message to Notre Dame players after New Orleans terror attack postpones Sugar Bowl
As Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman digested the tragedy that had befallen New Orleans, where his team will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal Thursday following a one-day postponement of the Sugar Bowl due to 15 people being run over and killed by a man in a truck, he offered his players a profound message.
“What I told the team is in the toughest moments, the culture of any program, of a nation, is revealed,” Freeman told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday. “I have a lot of faith this country will rally around the city of New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected today.”
Freeman recapped the hectic day for his program late Wednesday night while New Orleans dealt with the horror of a man, suspected to be 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, driving his truck into a group of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans around 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
The initial body count was listed at 10 but has since grown, with dozens of others injured.
The suspect, a U.S. Army veteran who had an ISIS flag on his truck, was killed following a shootout with police.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Superintendent of Police Anne Kirkpatrick said. “He was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Freeman said he gathered his team Wednesday but he did not have many details to share at the time, with the Fighting Irish preparing as if the 8:45 p.m. ET game would go on as planned.
He said the first part of that meeting focused on mourning and praying for the country and those affected by the tragic event.
The game eventually received a one-day delay, being pushed back to a 4 p.m. ET start Thursday.
“I think first off, I’d like to say we’re hurting for all those affected by this tragedy,” Freeman said. “The city of New Orleans has welcomed us with open arms and we join them in prayers for all those victims and families that are affected by this tragedy.”
Freeman and his team eventually shifted their focus toward preparing for the game against the second-seeded Bulldogs at Caesars Superdome.
The winner of the game will face sixth-seeded Penn State in one semifinal, while Texas and Ohio State secured their spots in the other semifinal with victories Wednesday.
“What I told them is I don’t want to wait. We’re not just going to wait until we get to play this game tomorrow, but we have to have a plan and we came up with a great plan to utilize this time we have this evening to physically and mentally prepare and then we came up with a plan for (Thursday) morning as we get ready for a 3 o’clock central time Sugar Bowl,” Freeman said. “That was the reality of that meeting and what we had to do and where our focus has to be as a program. We will mourn and pray for our country and we have support systems here for anybody that needs someone to talk to or have support, but we also have to be prepared for this great opportunity we have (Thursday) in the Sugar Bowl.”
Freeman had not spoken with Georgia coach Kirby Smart, but he expected the Bulldogs to take a similar approach.
“I know that he understands how important this country is and how minute the game of football is compared to real lives and our nation,” Freeman said. “We all will have that at the forefront of our minds as we move forward, but we also have to understand there’s a game to play and there’s an opportunity both programs have to play in the college football quarterfinals and we have to make sure we’re ready for that opportunity that is going to come here in the next couple of hours.”
Marcus Freeman Signs Lucrative Contract Extension As Notre Dame Hosts College Football Playoff Opener
Soon after Brian Kelly left his job as Notre Dame’s football coach to take the same position at LSU, the Fighting Irish chose in December 2021 to promote defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. Never mind that Freeman had never been a head coach at any level and was a month shy of his 36th birthday. Notre Dame’s administrators were confident in Freeman, and after some trying stretches, their move has seemingly paid off.
With No. 7 seed Notre Dame (11-1) set to host No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1) on Friday in the College Football Playoff opener, Freeman agreed on Sunday to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2030 season. FootballScoop and Irish Illustrated writer John Brice reported Freeman will earn more than $9 million annually, up from $7 million in the deal he signed when hired three years ago. Freeman will also have access to more money to compensate his assistant coaches and other staff members.
While securing Freeman for the long-term seems like a no-brainer for Notre Dame, it wasn’t always seen that way. After the Fighting Irish lost, 16-14, to lowly Northern Illinois on Sept. 7 to fall to 1-1, some questioned whether Freeman could live up to the expectations and keep the team on track for a full season. During Freeman’s first two seasons, the Fighting Irish went 9-4 and 10-3 and won two bowl games, but they had upset losses to Marshall and Stanford in 2022 and Louisville and Clemson last year.
Since the Northern Illinois game, though, Notre Dame has gone on a dominant run, winning 10 consecutive games by an average of 30.7 points per game. Still, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua claims he was sold on Freeman even before the Fighting Irish’s latest stretch. In recent weeks, Bevacqua was in constant contact with Clint Dowdle, Freeman’s agent and the head of football coaches and executives at WME. Bevacqua also discussed contract specifics with Father Robert Dowd, Notre Dame’s President, and John Veihmeyer, a former KPMG Chairman and current Chair of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees. The men agreed it was an “easy” decision to extend Freeman’s contract, according to Bevacqua, who said he often tells people the two most visible representatives of Notre Dame are its President and football coach.
“When you think about Coach Freeman, there's no better representative of Notre Dame,” Bevacqua said at a Tuesday press conference. “He's so authentic, so sincere. Everything that makes Notre Dame different and special, and some would say maybe harder, he embraces and uses that as an advantage and as a differentiator.”
The timing of the announcement was intentional. Bevacqua said he wanted to get a deal done several days before the CFP opener, so the talks were not a distraction to Freeman or anyone else at Notre Dame.
Bevacqua, who was chairman of NBC Sports before taking over as Notre Dame’s AD earlier this year, said Friday’s game is the most excited he’s been for a sporting event since November 1993, a few months after he graduated from Notre Dame. Back then, Bevacqua was in attendance when the No. 2 ranked Fighting Irish defeated No. 1 Florida State in what was billed as the Game of the Century.
“That's where my expectations are heading into Friday, that type of atmosphere, where it felt like the whole country was focused singularly on a sporting event,” Bevacqua said. “I think because we're the first game (of this year’s CFP), because it's in Notre Dame Stadium, because it's going to be this great interstate game on prime time on a Friday, I think it really has the chance to be a spectacular moment in sports and a spectacular, hopefully, moment in Notre Dame sports history.”
Bevacqua anticipates many more memorable games with Freeman at the helm. Although Freeman has a new contract in place, numerous coaches have left for other jobs, leading some to wonder whether Freeman would depart for an offer from an NFL franchise or Ohio State, his alma mater. Bevacqua said there are no “carveouts” in Freeman’s contract pertaining to the NFL or Ohio State, meaning it would likely come with a significant buyout if Freeman would ever want to leave Notre Dame.
Still, the way things are going, Bevacqua seems confident Freeman is in an enviable position. Bevacqua said Notre Dame would opt into the House settlement, which a judge is expected to rule in favor of in April, opening the door for athletics departments for the first time to share revenue with athletes. If the settlement is approved, Bevacqua estimated athletics departments will share $20.5 million with athletes starting with the 2025-26 school year. He added “a large portion” of that revenue will be dedicated to the Fighting Irish’s football team.
During conversations with Freeman about his contract extension, Bevacqua said the coach was primarily focused on having money available for his staff, including defensive coordinator Al Golden and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, both of whom are reportedly among the highest-paid assistants in college football. The idea is that it takes millions to retain and hire the best coaches and other personnel. Notre Dame is also upgrading its facilities, including breaking ground in April on the Jack and Kathy Shields Family Hall, a 150,000-square-foot building for football players that is set to open in 2026.
“I don't think it's any secret that we're keeping our foot on the gas,” Bevacqua said. “Football is a priority, and winning national championships is a priority. I’ve said this to Marcus and we were laughing. We're both kind of maniacally obsessed with winning a national championship and more in football.”
Notre Dame gives coach Marcus Freeman contract extension as playoff week begins
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Marcus Freeman opened his first playoff week as a head coach by holding a team meeting and fielding questions from reporters.
A few hours later, Notre Dame made sure Freeman wasn’t going anywhere.
Freeman has agreed to a long-term contract extension, making him one of the nation’s highest-paid coaches. It was announced on NBC’s Football Night in America pregame show Sunday night. NBC holds the broadcast rights to televise Notre Dame games.
“I am grateful for the support of the Board of Trustees,” Freeman said in a statement released by the athletic department. “The investment they continue to pour into our program is invaluable to our student-athletes and staff. This commitment goes well beyond myself, as they are dedicated to ensuring all aspects of our program are competitive within the upper echelon of college football.”
The 38-year-old Freeman has gone 30-9 in his three seasons in South Bend, Indiana, and led the Fighting Irish to their first playoff appearance since 2021.
After No. 3 Notre Dame lost its second game of the season to Northern Illinois, Freeman, knowing a second loss could eliminate the Irish from playoff contention, treated each of the final 10 contests like an elimination game. The Irish responded by winning all 10 games, moving back into The Associated Press’ top five and earning a first-round home game as the No. 7 seed.
They will host No. 9 Indiana (No. 10 seed) Friday night in the first playoff game held on a college campus. The winner advances to face No. 2 Georgia (No. 2).
Freeman was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2009 and also spent time on the rosters of Buffalo and Houston before announcing his retirement in 2010. He then returned to his alma mater, Ohio State, as a graduate assistant.
His coaching stops included Kent State and Purdue, where he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2016. The next season, Freeman left for Cincinnati where he stayed through 2020. He was hired as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2021 and was promoted to coach when Brian Kelly took the LSU job.
Freeman won nine games in his first season as head coach, 10 in his second season and 11 this year.
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Marcus Freeman says this Notre Dame coach is ready to move up
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman has high praise for one of his assistant coaches -- but he also doesn't want that coach to leave for a promotion anytime soon.
Pete Sampson, The Athletic's Notre Dame beat writer, quotes Freeman heaping praise on Mike Mickens, who is the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator for the Irish.
Of the 37-year-old Mickens, Freeman said this: "He's ready to be a defensive coordinator when he gets the right opportunity. But I'm not excited to see him leaving our defensive staff anytime soon."
This is how coaching works, of course -- young assistants who do a good job get a shot to move up to a higher level. And given how well the Notre Dame secondary has played in 2024, Mickens has definitely had an impact.
Notre Dame fans likely have the same position as Freeman -- let Mickens stay as long as possible, given the secondary's success.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Marcus Freeman says this Notre Dame coach is ready to move up
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman wins National Coach of the Year honors
Following Notre Dame football’s Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, it seemed like the 2024 season was lost.
Well, Marcus Freeman didn’t think so, as he went back to work and saw his team reel off 11-straight wins, including the first-round victory over Indiana in the College Football Playoff.
The impressive run put the Irish on the map, and Freeman was rewarded on Tuesday by winning the 2024 Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year. The award is giving out annually to the coach “whose program embodies the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership, and integrity, while also having success on the playing field throughout the season, as their website states.
Freeman said winning the award was “very humbling” according to the release, while being “proud of the way the men and women in our program embody those values.”
Winning this award doesn’t surprise me at all, as after the USC game, I thought that Freeman would get some national recognition. That turned out to be true and another feather in his coaching cap.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman wins National Coach of the Year honors
