SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame has promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to be the new head coach of the school’s football team.
Freeman served as defensive coordinator under previous head coach Brian Kelly, who resigned earlier this week and took the open head coaching job at Louisiana State University.
“It is an honor to be named the head coach of Notre Dame Football,” said Freeman in a press release. “I am eternally grateful to both Father John Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick for giving me the opportunity to lead the exceptional men who make this program what it is. Notre Dame is a very special place and I look forward to pursuing a national championship with the most outstanding student-athletes, coaches, and staff in college football.”
Freeman is the 30th man in the program’s history to coach the Irish. He had previously been the defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati before being hired by Kelly before the 2021 season.
Before he became a coach, Freeman played his college football at Ohio State and was drafted into the NFL by the Chicago Bears in 2009. He never made it above a practice squad player in the NFL with the Bears, Buffalo Bills, and Houston Texans.
This is Freeman’s second tenure with a college football team in Indiana. He previously was the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2013 to 2016. He was hired by Cincinnati in 2017.
Freeman will be introduced in a press conference as the new head coach at 2:00 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6.
