Well, it’s official. For those hoping that former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman would come home to Columbus to run the defense, you can forget about it. That’s because Freeman was officially named the new head coach at Notre Dame Friday morning.
Word began circulating that the move was coming after head coach Brian Kelly surprised everyone by bolting South Bend for LSU earlier in the week. Freeman has acclimated himself well with recruiting and rapport with players after coming on board as the defensive coordinator in the offseason. He had been looked at as a potential head coach down the line somewhere, but with Kelly’s departure, that timeline has been accelerated greatly.
Out of Wayne High School near Dayton, Freeman went on to play linebacker for Ohio State under Jim Tressel from 2004-2008. He was twice named Second-Team All-Big Ten.
After never really catching on in the NFL, Freeman embarked on a coaching career, first as the linebackers coach at Kent State in 2011. His next stop would be the same post with Purdue in 2013, then he hitched on with former Ohio State player and coach, Luke Fickell, at Cincinnati as the defensive coordinator from 2017-2020. He did so well running the defense in the Queen City that he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football in 2020. Freeman then parlayed that into being Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator under Kelly this past year.
Now, after just one season in which his defense again excelled, Freeman will be the new head coach at one of the most storied programs in college football history.
𝗜𝗧’𝗦 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟.
Please join us in welcoming @Marcus_Freeman1 as the 30th head coach of Notre Dame Football!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/PVaPuPhukp
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 3, 2021
Congrats to a former Buckeye — except that is — when the Fighting Irish come to Columbus to open up Freeman’s coaching career on September 3 next season. These things are hard to orchestrate, but man is that going to be wild.
