Marcus Freeman named 30th football head coach at Notre Dame – Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Official Athletics Website

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Marcus Freeman, one of the industry’s rising young stars and the architect of the prestigious Fighting Irish defense, has today been named 30th Dick Corbett head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.

Freeman will be featured on Monday, December 6 at 2pm ET at a press conference and will be coaching the Irish in their upcoming bowl.

“It’s an honor to be named head coach of Notre Dame Football,” Freeman said. “I am forever grateful to both Father John Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick for giving me the opportunity to lead those exceptional men who make this program what it is. Notre Dame is a very special place and I look forward to the national championship with the top student athletes, coaches and staff in college football.

🎥 Coach Freeman talks to the team

““Not only has Marcus Freeman proved to be a great football coach, but he has shown – both in Notre Dame and in my discussions with him this week – that he is a very honest person who cares deeply about our student athletes and is committed to success both in the classroom and on the field.” said University Rector Pastor John I. Jenkins, CSC.

“Marcus’ ability to connect with people, his fit at Notre Dame, and the way he coaches young men set him apart from the crowd as we went through our application process, ”said Jack Swarbrick, the university’s vice president and director of athletics at James E. Rohr. “I can’t wait to see how the culture created by these prominent student-athletes continues to grow under the guidance of Marcus and his staff.”

🎥 Introduction to Coach Freeman Team

In his first season with the Irish, he led the change on the defensive side of the ball, which includes several of the top 20 national rankings. The Irish ranked sixth in national abductions (15) and defense touchdowns (4), seventh in total sacking (40.0), 11th in transfers (23) and goal-scoring in defense (18.2) and 18th in third-place earnings (0.329). . . Team 40.0 fired is one shy of the 1996 program record of the season 41.

Freeman has overseen the discharge of second-year student Isaiah Foskey as a beginner on the defensive line. Foskey has collected 10.0 fires this year, the fourth highest in program history in a single season. The depth of Ireland’s defense has been fully featured in 2021, with 15 different players recording a sack and 21 different players losing. The 15 abductions are the highest in a single season since 2014, when the Irish had 16. In November, the Irish played three matches in a row without allowing a touchdown for the first time since 2012.

Prior to joining South Bend, Freeman worked for the previous four seasons as a defense coordinator in Cincinnati. In his time at the Bearcats, he was elected Defender Coordinator of the Year for 2020 247Sports.com and Finalist for the 2020 Broyles Award, as well as a Broyles Award nominee in 2019 and 2018.

In 2020, the Bearcats (9-1) earned an offer to the Peach Bowl in the country’s 8th place and won the American Athletic Conference Championship, the program’s first live league championship since 2009, when Cincinnati head coach was Brian Kelly.

Cincinnati’s defense ranked in the top 20 nationally in several categories in the 2020-21 season, including 13th in overall defense (324.6 yards per game) and eighth in scoring defense (16.8 points per game) of all FBS teams. In addition, the Bearcats were third in team entry in the efficiency defense (101.25), 14th in the fast defense (111.1 yards per game), 15th in the red zone defense (0.735), 17th in the fourth down defense (0.375), 16th in the team kicks. (3.00 per game) and 10. in turnover achieved (21).

Freeman coached the Bearcats for 11 consecutive wins in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the 2019 American Athletic Conference East Division Championship Series, and consecutive bowl wins in the 2018 Military Bowl and 2019 TicketSmarter in the Birmingham Bowl.

The Bearcats finished at the top of the 2019 AAC Series in scoring defense for the second consecutive season and ranked among the top three in the league in rush and overall defense. Cincinnati led the Americans in 2018 in rapid defense, scoring defense and total defense and ranked among the top 15 in the NCAA FBS in all three categories.

Joined Bearcats staff after four years in Purdue. He coaches linebacks all four seasons and served as Boilermakers ’defense coordinator in 2015.

Prior to joining Purdue, Freeman coached line backgrounds at Kent State from 2011-2012 and helped develop Luke Batton and CJ Malaulua throughout the conference.

Freeman began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach in his alma mater at Ohio State in 2010, and Buckeyes won the Sugar Bowl 12-1.

Freeman is only the third Notre Dame head coach selected in the NFL draft and the first since Ara Parseghian was elected to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1947. He is the 23rd Notre Dame head coach with Division I gaming experience and the first since Tyrone Willingham.

During his career as a player, Freeman was a four-year letter winner at the Buckeyes from 2004-2008. He played under current Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell and earned the second team All-Big Ten award in 2008 and helped lead Ohio State to four conference championships. three BCS bowls and two trips to the championship during his career.

He played in the 2009 Senior Bowl and was the Chicago Bears fifth round draft pick. He spent time with Bears, Buffalo Bills, and Houston Texans before the illness ended his career as a player.

Freeman graduated from Ohio in 2007 and returned to the classroom to earn a master’s degree in 2011. ‘

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