Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman shuts down NFL rumors ahead of National Championship Game
Yesterday at 12:17 PM
On Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, head coach Marcus Freeman will be looking to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to their first National Title since 1988. Win or lose, the 2024 season has made Freeman something of a legend in South Bend, an unexpected development considering a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois was the low-point in Freeman’s tenure. But since that early season upset, ND has won 13 games in a row and are now on the brink of history.
But now the question becomes, if Freeman does lead the Irish to a victory over the favored Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Championship Game, will he eye an historic jump to the National Football League? Based on what Freeman has been saying recently, it sounds like he hasn’t given much thought to the proposition just yet.
"I have given zero thought to the NFL,” Freeman said on Saturday morning, according to Ari Wasserman of On3 Sports. “All of my attention has been on getting this team ready for the game."
Now at first glance, this seems like a pretty firm ‘nuh-uh’ from Freeman regarding a jump to the NFL, though I’d be inclined to remind you that just last year, as the Michigan Wolverines were preparing for their College Football Playoff semifinal matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide, this is what Jim Harbaugh had to say about potentially leaving his alma mater to coach in the NFL:
"It's just a very one-track mind about this game," Harbaugh said, per Aaron McMann of Michigan Live. "Right now having fun with the family, the team and the players.”
It was only a few weeks later when Harbaugh accepted the job with the Los Angeles Chargers on the heels of a title game win over Washington.
The Chicago Bears have been the team that has come up most frequently in discussions about Freeman leaving Notre Dame to go to the NFL. The Bears are reportedly “enamored” by the idea of bringing the 39-year-old head coach to Chicago as a long-term partner for their 23-year-old quarterback Caleb Williams, who put together an impressive rookie campaign in the midst of a tumultuous and disappointing Bears season.
The good news for Notre Dame fans is that according to people in the know, it does sound like Freeman is content with remaining the man in charge of the Fighting Irish.
“I'd be very surprised if Marcus left to go be the Bears head coach,” said college football insider Bruce Feldman on a recent episode of The Athletic’s Scoop City Podcast. NFL insider Dianna Russini added, “I've talked to people close to him, too, that have told me that he's been pretty patient in his career. He's had tons of different opportunities that I guess the public doesn't even know about that he's turned down.”
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