Marcus Freeman: The Players' Coach Leading Notre Dame to the National Championship

In 2021, when Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU, the players were uncertain about the future. However, they found comfort in Marcus Freeman, the team's defensive coordinator. The players, who had seen what Freeman could do and felt his impact on their game, campaigned for him to be the next head coach. And their wish came true.

Freeman, who was only 30 years old when he was hired as Cincinnati's defensive coordinator, quickly made an impression on the players. He instituted the "turnover dunk," where players who created the turnover would dunk the ball on a small rim. He also drew from his playing experience to get the most out of his players.

As Freeman has attempted to get the most out of this particular team, players have become accustomed to his coaching style. He challenges his players, but also shows them that he believes in them. He has a relationship with every single person on his team of how that person needs to be interacted with and motivated.

Freeman has also embraced Notre Dame's history while trying to make his own mark with the team. He has brought transfers into the fold seamlessly and reinstituted pregame mass for the program. He has struck a deft touch between utilizing Notre Dame's tradition and history to bring the Irish together.

Notre Dame had to rally after losing to Northern Illinois early in the season. Freeman, like he had done at Cincinnati, turned to a video, this time not of anything related to football, but of a high school hurdler who was tripped up by the second hurdle in a 100-meter race. The hurdler got back up and made a comeback, qualifying for the final heat where she won and set a personal record.

Instead of burying the loss, Freeman utilized it, and it fueled the team's dominance the rest of the season. When the Irish faced off against USC in the last week of the regular season and headed into halftime tied with the Trojans, they were able to remember their shortcomings, come out of the locker room and not let it happen again, outscoring the Trojans 35-21 in the second half.

After the game, no one was shy about remembering exactly how many days it had been since that fateful NIU loss. "To see where we were 84 days ago to where we're at now, it's a testament to trust and the decisions of those guys in that locker room," Freeman said then. "This is what it's all about, man. It's the journey."

As the clock struck midnight in Miami on Friday Jan.10, Notre Dame players were celebrating their Orange Bowl victory over Penn State in the locker room when suddenly, Kiser made an announcement: It was Freeman's birthday. After congratulating him and singing happy birthday, the Irish players took the opportunity to poke fun at their head coach.

"Someone said he was turning 39," defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka said. "We were all like 'S---, Coach, you're old.'"

Tuihalamaka laughs now thinking of the moment, while acknowledging the reality that underscores the barb: Freeman is one of the five youngest coaches in FBS.

"When he recruited me as a defensive coach, I felt the vibe and the chemistry I had with him right off the bat," Tuihalamaka said. "He felt like an older brother and still feels kind of like an older brother."

And while age does nothing to determine a win-loss record, to hear Notre Dame players talk about it, Freeman's youth and the way he carries himself is a monumental part of his magnetism.

"Freeman is very personal and player-focused," Cross said. "Kelly was a strategist. Coach Freeman is a players' coach."

Whether it's letting players decide on the practice playlists and, as Prince put it, "vibing with us," or making an effort to be invested in players' lives outside of the sport, Freeman has struck the ideal balance between coach, mentor and friend.

"Everywhere he goes, he's one of us," said quarterback Riley Leonard. "You'll see him [in Atlanta], he's just wearing a jumpsuit, chilling with the boys, hanging out for media day. Then he knows how to flip the switch."

"He understands us on a level that other coaches probably wouldn't understand us on," running back Jeremiyah Love said. "We love him. We respect him. We want to make him look good. He wants to make us look good."

Notre Dame looks better than it has in a long time, and at the crux of it all is this symbiotic relationship between Freeman and the players. What started back in 2021 as a decision that had an entire team jumping up and down with Freeman as he was promoted to be their head coach has turned into one of the best runs the Irish have had in recent memory.

"I think the special thing about that video is he's the defensive coordinator, and yet if you look, the whole offense was ecstatic when he walked through that door," Kiser said. "Everyone believed in him then, and everyone believes in him now."