Marcus Freeman says he’s not “ready to let go” of his Notre Dame job, acknowledging loud NFL head-coach chatter after the regular season before tying his future to team success and transparency with his players.
Marcus Freeman didn’t slam the door on the NFL. He just refused to walk away from Notre Dame.
During an appearance on Josh Pate’s College Football Show. Freeman revisited the recruitment of attention that followed Notre Dame’s end of the regular season. The NFL had opened its coaching job market widely—10 of 32 jobs were available this year—and Freeman found himself in the center of the speculation until he made his position clear: he’s staying.
Freeman described how the chatter changed over time. “The year before there was a little bit of chatter. but you’re in the playoffs. and that’s your only focus. you know?” he said. “This year got really loud after the end of the regular season.” He said he took time to examine a possible future move to pro football. even though he has never coached in the NFL. “I did — I took a minute to really say. ‘What is this opportunity of being an NFL head coach?’ I’ve never coached in the NFL. I wanted to know what they look for, what they think it takes to be successful. And I gained some valuable knowledge.”.
The message, Freeman said, was delivered with clarity to the people closest to the program. “I was always honest with our players,” he said. “If they asked. and [I] talked to them. I said. ‘Listen. guys. like. I’m the head coach at Notre Dame. And I can’t control what opportunities or what people are saying outside of this building.’ But — and I was always in communication with our Athletic Director. right?. And my family.”.
For Freeman, that communication had a simple core: he loves what he does where he’s doing it. “But for me. it was the opportunity to be the head coach of this university was one that I wasn’t ready to let go. And I love this place. I love, more importantly, the people here, the opportunity to coach these young men,” he continued. He also emphasized the continuity of recruiting and development, saying many of those players had been recruited across multiple years.
Then he tied his long-term thinking to something immediate and measurable: wins. Freeman said the reason his name—and the names of his staff—stay in the mix is directly linked to results. “With team success comes individual opportunities,” he said. “And the head coach is a reflection of the players of other coaches. We’ve had some coaches get opportunities to go coach in the NFL, and I’m happy for them. But if we weren’t having team success. if we didn’t win those last ten games. then my name or nobody else’s name would be floating around here.”.
To explain how strongly he believes team performance drives personal chances, Freeman pointed to running back Jeremiyah Love. He said Love’s Heisman candidacy—along with the possibility of being the third overall pick in the 2026 draft—was fueled by the team’s late-season success. Freeman connected the idea directly to what would have happened without that run: “There’s a strong feeling if we didn’t win those last ten. then he wouldn’t have been up for the Heisman. right?” he said.
Freeman used that example to reinforce the program’s focus. “So it’s a reminder for all of us that, with team success comes individual opportunities. So let’s just be intentional about and focused on team success,” he said. “If we do that, your individual opportunities and individual praise, those will come. But it’s a result of team success. Let’s just be focused on team success, and that’s the message we constantly say.”.
What stands out in Freeman’s approach is how he tries to reconcile the pull of the NFL with the demands of the job he holds now. He acknowledged the realities of coaching upward mobility—“bigger jobs. to more money. to the highest mountains to climb”—but insisted that honesty and goal-tying are the way to keep the team aligned. In Freeman’s framing. the NFL future isn’t denied; it’s scheduled behind what Notre Dame is doing on the field.
He also pointed to how the sport’s rules have reshaped expectations. He said the door to the NFL will remain open “for as long as Notre Dame continues to be a high-level contender. ” adding that one day he could choose to walk through it. He referenced the year-to-year nature of the NIL era and argued that it makes commitment fears less relevant: the idea that a recruit shouldn’t sign with a school because the coach won’t be there for the full four or five years has become a relic. “For today’s players, the only season that matters is the next one.”.
For now, though, Freeman’s point is firm. He wasn’t chasing a promise to never leave—he was delivering the kind of answer that tells players where his priorities sit. Not ready to let go of Notre Dame, even as the NFL’s attention keeps looking his way.
Marcus Freeman Notre Dame NFL head coach College Football Show Josh Pate Jeremiyah Love Heisman candidacy 2026 draft