Marcus Freeman named Dick Corbett Head Football Coach

[NorthDakota]

cool interview with Cam Heyward, love hearing from HCMF

Some members of this board will be disappointed to see he acknowledged the spray paint hair lol

 

[Cpnd1]

cool interview with Cam Heyward, love hearing from HCMF

Mentions wanting to retire here. Marcus please don’t break my heart

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I'm not sure why you build this and then bail out. Seems a little weird. Based on this recruiting class, it sure doesn't seem like he has so much of a toenail out the door let alone a foot. He can't help it if NFL teams, Penn State, Florida, LSU, and all the other Johnny Come Latelys who fire their coaches call him.

I just don't see it. In the end, however, these are just jobs for these guys. I thought there was a time when Brian Kelly "got it" and was all about Notre Dame. I'm not going to make that same mistake again as a fan, but to this point, Marcus Freeman projects himself and his understanding of the University of Notre Dame that makes it hard not to like him and if he's half the person he projects himself to be I think we're in good shape for a long time.

Get a couple of Championships, get dudes into the NFL, win more games than Lou, Rockne and Kelly, send great citizens into the world after they're done playing ball for you.

 

[NorthDakota]

I'm not sure why you build this and then bail out. Seems a little weird. Based on this recruiting class, it sure doesn't seem like he has so much of a toenail out the door let alone a foot. He can't help it if NFL teams, Penn State, Florida, LSU, and all the other Johnny Come Latelys who fire their coaches call him.

I just don't see it. In the end, however, these are just jobs for these guys. I thought there was a time when Brian Kelly "got it" and was all about Notre Dame. I'm not going to make that same mistake again as a fan, but to this point, Marcus Freeman projects himself and his understanding of the University of Notre Dame that makes it hard not to like him and if he's half the person he projects himself to be I think we're in good shape for a long time.

Get a couple of Championships, get dudes into the NFL, win more games than Lou, Rockne and Kelly, send great citizens into the world after they're done playing ball for you.

People leave for new challenges, opportunities, etc.

I hope he is around for as long as both he and the university are happy. With the way CFB is now, I think ND is as good a job as exists.

 

[greyhammer90]

I'm not sure why you build this and then bail out. Seems a little weird. Based on this recruiting class, it sure doesn't seem like he has so much of a toenail out the door let alone a foot. He can't help it if NFL teams, Penn State, Florida, LSU, and all the other Johnny Come Latelys who fire their coaches call him.

I just don't see it. In the end, however, these are just jobs for these guys. I thought there was a time when Brian Kelly "got it" and was all about Notre Dame. I'm not going to make that same mistake again as a fan, but to this point, Marcus Freeman projects himself and his understanding of the University of Notre Dame that makes it hard not to like him and if he's half the person he projects himself to be I think we're in good shape for a long time.

Get a couple of Championships, get dudes into the NFL, win more games than Lou, Rockne and Kelly, send great citizens into the world after they're done playing ball for you.

My biggest concern has been and continues to be OSU. Sure he could go to the pros but all the great org jobs are either stable or just got filled this past off-season. I know he can't help who he went to college with but I really don't like that all of his off-season interviews and football buddies are OSU grads, and his professional mentor is Jim Tressel. Freeman is nothing if not a competitive climber, and I can't imagine being the MAN in charge of the most important thing in his longtime social group wouldn't appeal to him.

 

[Irish#1]

My biggest concern has been and continues to be OSU. Sure he could go to the pros but all the great org jobs are either stable or just got filled this past off-season. I know he can't help who he went to college with but I really don't like that all of his off-season interviews and football buddies are OSU grads, and his professional mentor is Jim Tressel. Freeman is nothing if not a competitive climber, and I can't imagine being the MAN in charge of the most important thing in his longtime social group wouldn't appeal to him.

Day doesn't look to be leaving OSU anytime soon. By the time he has, MF will have been here for a while and possibly have a trophy or two to go along with it.

He also used Lou as a mentor. In an indirect way, Kelly has also been a mentor without realizing it. Whatever Kelly did, don't do it.

 

[FOTY977]

My biggest concern has been and continues to be OSU. Sure he could go to the pros but all the great org jobs are either stable or just got filled this past off-season. I know he can't help who he went to college with but I really don't like that all of his off-season interviews and football buddies are OSU grads, and his professional mentor is Jim Tressel. Freeman is nothing if not a competitive climber, and I can't imagine being the MAN in charge of the most important thing in his longtime social group wouldn't appeal to him.

If the pressure cooker aka super trashy fanbase of Columbus almost broke Day (the nepo hire with no track record), and drove Herbie out of living there for fear of personal safety, imagine what it does to a proven winner who has brought his own team to the brink, if not having taken home a title which MF could very well do in the next couple years.

Outside of the odd deranged wrestling coach picking a fight or weird poster who lives on your street keeping an eye out for your activity, I don’t think the lifestyle in SB outside the facilities is a fraction as demanding/insane as Columbus. Maybe you put up with that circus in the prior era when it was one of the only places you could really expect to win, but that world is long gone.

NFL is the only place I see him realistically trying on for size to strive for the absolute pinnacle of the sport.

 

[KPENN]

Didn’t Mercke say that Joanna doesn’t want anything to do with Columbus and the fanbase?

 

[zelezo vlk]

Didn’t Mercke say that Joanna doesn’t want anything to do with Columbus and the fanbase?

I believe so and it's a very believable claim

 

[NorthDakota]

My biggest concern has been and continues to be OSU. Sure he could go to the pros but all the great org jobs are either stable or just got filled this past off-season. I know he can't help who he went to college with but I really don't like that all of his off-season interviews and football buddies are OSU grads, and his professional mentor is Jim Tressel. Freeman is nothing if not a competitive climber, and I can't imagine being the MAN in charge of the most important thing in his longtime social group wouldn't appeal to him.

Yes that concern is real. That's the only college job I would think >50% he'd leave for. It's the only job in CFB (in 2026) you could convince me is probably a better job. Throw in that he went there and is still close with that group...

Then again, he talks a lot about the doors Notre Dame opens up. It's entirely plausible that he wants what's best for his kids and legacy and thinks that Notre Dame is the place for that.

Dan Gable and Cael Sanderson are two of the most dominant college wrestlers/coaches to ever live. Both went to Iowa State. Neither of them coached at ISU.

Toss in any potential concerns about Ohio State itself/fans/alumni...

 

[greyhammer90]

If the pressure cooker aka super trashy fanbase of Columbus almost broke Day (the nepo hire with no track record), and drove Herbie out of living there for fear of personal safety, imagine what it does to a proven winner who has brought his own team to the brink, if not having taken home a title which MF could very well do in the next couple years.

Outside of the odd deranged wrestling coach picking a fight or weird poster who lives on your street keeping an eye out for your activity, I don’t think the lifestyle in SB outside the facilities is a fraction as demanding/insane as Columbus. Maybe you put up with that circus in the prior era when it was one of the only places you could really expect to win, but that world is long gone.

NFL is the only place I see him realistically trying on for size to strive for the absolute pinnacle of the sport.

I hope you're right, if Freeman is wired the way I think he is, my worry is that he would take the OSU job specifically because of the pressure cooker aspect of it.

 

[Pete]

Yes that concern is real. That's the only college job I would think >50% he'd leave for. It's the only job in CFB (in 2026) you could convince me is probably a better job. Throw in that he went there and is still close with that group...

Then again, he talks a lot about the doors Notre Dame opens up. It's entirely plausible that he wants what's best for his kids and legacy and thinks that Notre Dame is the place for that.

Dan Gable and Cael Sanderson are two of the most dominant college wrestlers/coaches to ever live. Both went to Iowa State. Neither of them coached at ISU.

Toss in any potential concerns about Ohio State itself/fans/alumni...

Cael coached at ISU for 3 seasons, 2007-2009.

 

[greyhammer90]

Cael coached at ISU for 3 seasons, 2007-2009.

Oh God we're screwed.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

My biggest concern has been and continues to be OSU. Sure he could go to the pros but all the great org jobs are either stable or just got filled this past off-season. I know he can't help who he went to college with but I really don't like that all of his off-season interviews and football buddies are OSU grads, and his professional mentor is Jim Tressel. Freeman is nothing if not a competitive climber, and I can't imagine being the MAN in charge of the most important thing in his longtime social group wouldn't appeal to him.

People are going to continue to assume this. I don't know what is in his mind. I know Notre Dame has him and if Ohio State or anyone else wants him, it's probably going to cost them. A lot.

He has spent more than half of his 40 years on Earth in Ohio. Maybe he wants something different.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Didn’t Mercke say that Joanna doesn’t want anything to do with Columbus and the fanbase?

I believe so and it's a very believable claim

I believe Joanna Freeman got a journalism degree from Ohio State and worked for a Columbus TV station for a while? She might want no part in going back there now.

Saban and Meyer's wives both had preferences as well as I understand it. Miss Terry was particularly not found of the weather in the midwest and after Michigan State, Nicky never came back north again.

These wives have a great deal of say when it comes to these matters.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I believe Joanna Freeman got a journalism degree from Ohio State and worked for a Columbus TV station for a while? She might want no part in going back there now.

Saban and Meyer's wives both had preferences as well as I understand it. Miss Terry was particularly not found of the weather in the midwest and after Michigan State, Nicky never came back north again.

These wives have a great deal of say when it comes to these matters.

Even beyond over-familiarity/not liking the area, how many years in a row were there news stories about Ryan Day or his family getting harassed by Buckeye fans? That can't exactly be appealing to a mother

 

[NorthDakota]

Cael coached at ISU for 3 seasons, 2007-2009.

Oh snap. Didn't realize. Thought PSU was his first big boy job.

 

[Irish#1]

I imagine there are as many reasons not to coach at OSU as there are to coach there.

 

[pumpdog20]

I believe MFMF relishes the challenge that is restoring ND's greatness. And won't leave until he wins a title, or the school stops supporting him in ways he thinks needs to be done in order to win a a title.

 

[NorthDakota]

I imagine there are as many reasons not to coach at OSU as there are to coach there.

For 99% of D1 college football coaches, the pros outweigh the cons.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Even beyond over-familiarity/not liking the area, how many years in a row were there news stories about Ryan Day or his family getting harassed by Buckeye fans? That can't exactly be appealing to a mother

After losing to Michigan, he needed 24/7 armed guards for his three kids. The son barely left the house for weeks the harassment was so bad.

Those Bama rumors were always going to be in the background for Dabo at Clemson. Dabo had a great run at Clemson. There is no reason why Marcus Freeman can't have a run at ND just like that or maybe better in this NIL Portal Era. Notre Dame is Notre Dame, but we haven't seen a championship in almost 40 years. Ohio State is basically expected to compete for one every year, and the sanity of their inbred fanbase hinges on one game a year anyway. The expectations between the two are completely different right now, and Freeman's certainly smart enough to be aware of that.

Ryan Day is 82-12 at Ohio State with a National Championship. He's 55-5 in the Big Ten. The lowest he's finished ranked, if you're into that sort of thing, is 10th. There are people in that fanbase, people who hate Ohio State and people who are neutral that think this dude is a bum with all of that being said. He does a great deal of work with hospitals in the Columbus area and is an advocate for mental health (his father committed suicide). He dyes his beard and it's weird, but if this isn't good enough for people, everyone else needs to take a good long look at those expectations if they are ever considered for that job. Might not be very realistic, and that's fine, but know what it is you'd be walking into and ask yourself is the juice worth the squeeze.

 

[jerseyborn1971]

College football history is riddled with coaches who went back to their alma mater and failed terribly. Not so much the other way around.

 

[greyhammer90]

I think it only proves my point that saying "OSU is our biggest threat" (which IMO is a bit of a "sky is blue" observation) has caused some typically very level-headed posters to reflexively begin wishcasting how Joanna must feel about Columbus or the OSU fanbase.

We're all spooked to hell by the notion lol

 

[jerseyborn1971]

Alma maters are different. Scott Frost didn't really want to go back to Nebraska. His wife REALLY didn't want to go to Nebraska. They went anyway. And we saw how that turned out.

 

[NorthDakota]

Alma maters are different. Scott Frost didn't really want to go back to Nebraska. His wife REALLY didn't want to go to Nebraska. They went anyway. And we saw how that turned out.

Nebraska is almost uniquely bad in this regard. Not sure a worse place exists to be the player alum turned coach. At least not while donors/ fans are still boomers and gen x.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think it only proves my point that saying "OSU is our biggest threat" (which IMO is a bit of a "sky is blue" observation) has caused some typically very level-headed posters to reflexively begin wishcasting how Joanna must feel about Columbus or the OSU fanbase.

We're all spooked to hell by the notion lol

I'm not. Hence the original post.

I think Marcus digs Notre Dame and is setting something up we have not seen in decades. He's going to be here a bit and he's going to get a few bites at the apple. I think he wins one, maybe a couple. The leadership at the university recognizes what they have and they're supporting him. If both sides of the table keep the faith, there is no reason it won't continue. Marcus chooses hard, but he also chooses smart. Ohio State might not be the smart choice for a variety of reasons. Jim Tressel and Luke Fickell should both know, and they both know better than we do. And they both know Marcus.

Ohio State has to have an opening, they have to want him and he has to want to go. I don't presume to know what either party is thinking, but it's two months from the season at Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman is the head coach of said program. Maybe he leaves, but it ain't today.

 

[stlnd01]

People are going to continue to assume this. I don't know what is in his mind. I know Notre Dame has him and if Ohio State or anyone else wants him, it's probably going to cost them. A lot.

He has spent more than half of his 40 years on Earth in Ohio. Maybe he wants something different.

Well when you put it like that...

 

[Bane]

He has spent more than half of his 40 years on Earth in Ohio.

I wouldn't wish that on my greatest enemy.

 

[jpachuta33]

Being from Ohio, a lot of people have mentioned that they are grooming Laurinaitis to be the next coach in waiting… & If Hartline finds success at South Florida, that’s another route they could go.

 

[Bane]

We have Freeman for now, that is enough for me. I try not think about aspects of the future I can't control too much. This leads to worrying and he who worries suffers twice.