Marcus Freeman closed the door on NFL speculation Tuesday, telling reporters in South Bend he has no interest in coaching anywhere but Notre Dame.
“I’m all-in. I’ve been all-in. I don’t see myself being the head coach or coaching anywhere else. I plan on being here as long as I can,” Freeman told a small group of reporters, via Pete Sampson of The Athletic. “If I do a good enough job and I’m able and wanted to be the head coach here, I want to stay the head coach here.”
It’s a firmer stance than the one Freeman took back in January. Asked then whether he wanted to coach in the NFL, he didn’t rule it out. “Maybe sometime in the future if it’s the right time and it’s what I think is right for me, then maybe I’ll pursue it,” he said via NBC Sports. According to that same report, Freeman also turned down an opportunity to interview for NFL jobs this offseason, and acknowledged in an Esquire feature this spring that openings with the Ravens and Steelers had intrigued him before he decided to stay.
A name that keeps surfacing every winter
Freeman is 43-12 at Notre Dame since taking over the program in December 2021, with a trip to the national championship game in his résumé. That kind of run at a young age has made him a magnet for coaching speculation each hiring cycle. The New York Giants were reportedly among the franchises pursuing him this past offseason, and the Cleveland Browns privately discussed him as a future head coach as well, according to Browns Digest.
Freeman ended that round of speculation in December by posting “2026…run it back. Go Irish” on X, and Notre Dame followed up by reworking his contract, pushing his pay into what athletic director Pete Bevacqua called the “top, top, top tier” of college coaching salaries.
Bevacqua has been candid about the interest Freeman draws. “College has eyes on Marcus, NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus,” he told ESPN earlier this year, calling Freeman “the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop.”
Why Tuesday’s comments matter
Freeman’s latest remarks go further than the December social media post did. That statement addressed the 2026 season. Tuesday’s comments frame Notre Dame as where he sees his whole coaching career playing out, not just the next 12 months. Whether that’s a genuine long-term commitment or a coach trying to shut down distractions before fall camp, the timing lines up with Notre Dame gearing up for a season it wants to open with less noise than the last one.
The 2025 season ended with the Fighting Irish reeling off ten straight wins, only to get left out of the College Football Playoff and opt out of a bowl game entirely. That snub, paired with a full winter of coaching rumors, made this offseason a longer one than Notre Dame wanted. Freeman appears to be trying to close that chapter before it becomes a storyline again in September.
Notre Dame opens its 2026 season on Sept. 6 against Wisconsin.
