By now, we’ve all heard the story lines surrounding Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman competing against his alma mater, Ohio State, for the national title down in Atlanta. Obviously, his focus is geared towards the team and getting them mentally and physically prepared for a 60 minute battle inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. However, that doesn’t mean that we all, as a fan base, can’t hone in on the fact that Freeman has the opportunity to become one of, if not the first, head coach in college football history to win a National Championship against their alma mater.
The road was not easy to get here for the, now 39 year old, head coach, and he ran into the Buckeyes twice along the way in back to back years in 2022 and 2023. Now, Freeman has the opportunity to come full circle and down a school played at to bring Notre Dame its first national title since 1988.
The Beginnings
Freeman grew up in Huber Heights, Ohio, just one hour outside of Columbus. He played linebacker at Wayne High School and eventually committed to play college ball at Ohio State. From 2004 to 2008, Freeman played in several big games including back to back National Championships in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he earned second team All-Big Ten honors and played in the Senior Bowl early in 2009.
Freeman was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round, bounced around to the Bills and the Texans, before medically retiring from playing after a heart condition. Once that happened, he went back to Ohio State as a grad assistant and worked his way up the coaching ladder at several different schools including time with the Buckeyes, Purdue, Cincinnati, and eventually earned the defensive coordinator position at Notre Dame in 2021…