Notre Dame fans were blindsided in 2021 when long-time head coach Brian Kelly left the program for LSU. The Irish had a bright future ahead of them, with a New Year Six bowl appearance and a strong recruiting class. It was shocking that Kelly abandoned the program with such a bright future. There were also concerns that newly promoted head coach Marcus Freeman couldn’t keep the bright future on track for the Irish.
However three years into the Freeman era, those concerns have been squashed. Notre Dame has a record of 30-9 as well as an 11-4 record vs Top 25 opponents. He’s won two bowl games as well as clinched a spot in the inaugural 12-team playoff. An impressive resume for someone thrust into one of the highest-pressure jobs in the country.
This performance earned Freeman a four-year extension, making him the Irish head coach through 2030. The compensation details haven’t been revealed but Freeman is believed to be one of the highest paid coaches in the country. A well-deserved extension, and great news for the future of the program. This extension guarantees that Freeman will stay in South Bend. This extension also validates the fact that Freeman is the guy who brought Notre Dame back to the pinnacle of college football.
Freeman’s Ability to Lead & Motivate
There are several things Freeman has done to make him the right guy at Notre Dame. However, the biggest one has been his leadership. This was the main reason why Freeman was hired in the first place. After Kelly left for LSU, the entire team was pushing for Freeman to get promoted to head coach. Even after only a season his leadership ability was felt by the entire program.
However, his most impressive display of leadership came this season, following the heartbreaking loss to NIU. At that point, Notre Dame was at a crossroads. The Irish could fall apart and it’d be yet another season of failing to live up to expectations. Or they could use this as a rallying point and win out. Freeman’s leadership and motivation caused the latter to happen. Freeman kept reminding his team of the feeling after the NIU loss. Saying that the only way to never feel like that again is to keep winning games.
The NIU game wasn’t the only time he used that strategy this season. Before the week five matchup against Lousiville, Freeman had the 2023 game where the Irish lost to the Cardinals 33-20 playing on all the TV in the facilities. He did that to remind his team how the loss felt and to motivate them to not feel that way again. This style of motivation has been extremely effective as Notre Dame went on a ten-game winning streak. Freeman can connect and motivate his players like this, and continue to succeed, the Irish will consistently be one of the best teams in the country.
His Ability to Recruit
Freeman is also one of the best recruiters in the nation. We saw this right off the bat when he was able to keep Notre Dame’s top ten recruiting class in 2021. After Kelly left there were fears Notre Dame would lose that strong class. The recruits would follow Kelly to LSU or go to a new school. However, Freeman was able to keep the class together in a short time frame and it finished as the sixth best class.
His recruiting class since taking over has been very impressive as well. He brought in the tenth-best class in 2023, the eleventh-best in 2024, and is currently on track to land the 12th-best in 2025. Freeman has brought a lot of impressive talent into Notre Dame. If he’s able to land the top 15 classes in his early season, they’ll get better as he improves. If he can have sustained success, then the recruits will flock to South Bend. Thus making the Irish one of the most talented teams in the country.
Although everyone will bring up the bad losses to Marshall and NIU, they shouldn’t take away from Freeman. He has the ability to take Notre Dame to levels they haven’t been in years.
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