A youth movement is taking hold among college football coaches, and Marcus Freeman is the handsome face of this millennial generation. If Notre Dame wins against Ohio State, Marcus Freeman will become the youngest coach to win a national championship since Danny Ford at Clemson in 1981. According to the Chicago Report, the Bears have their eyes on Marcus Freeman, but staying at Notre Dame seems pretty appealing.
You’ve probably heard that it’s a tough time to coach college football. Never mind that coaching salaries for players who have never won a national championship skyrocket into eight figures or that failing coaches are protected with exorbitant buyouts. Yes, indeed, the echo chamber says today that coaching college football is a fool’s errand.
Players have more power, freedom, and compensation than ever before, and coaches have less control over their rosters. This is unbearable for some coaches who can’t stomach anything other than letting their sense of omnipotence run wild.
And here we have Marcus Freeman. In contrast to all the doom and gloom of coaching. Notre Dame’s 39-year-old coach is on the fast track of his career, guiding the blue blood to power. He is a pioneer in the youth movement taking over the sidelines of college football.
If Freeman’s Fighting Irish beat Ohio State in Atlanta on Monday, he will become the youngest coach to win a national championship since Danny Ford, 33, who led Clemson to a national title in 1981. It will be.
In this millennium, Urban Meyer was 42 years old when he won his first national championship at Florida, and Bob Stoops turned 40 a few months before winning his only national championship at Oklahoma.
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Freeman and Ohio State coach Ryan Day, 45, are 84 years old together. This was the youngest coaching pairing in the national championship game since the Bowl Championship Series began pitting No. 1 against No. 2 in the title match starting in the 1998 season.
Freeman and Day manage strong relationships with players, even in the transactional era of the sport.
Does that mean it’s a bad time to coach college ball? Perhaps it is just unbearable for those who are stuck in a past that will never return.
Three keys: Breaking down the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame title game.
No chance: Notre Dame will never be in the conference after making the playoffs.
From Marcus Freeman to Ryan Day, the College Football Playoff serves youth
Coaches in their 30s and 40s are seizing this moment, and the trend extends beyond Freeman and Day.
As college football’s oldest players step back, enter retirement or cash their buyout checks on the brink of unemployment, the next generation takes their place.
When the College Football Playoff began last month, the average age of the 12 qualifying team coaches was 45 and a half years old.
Curt Cignetti, 63, of Indiana, has circled the sun the most times. Arizona State pup Kenny Dillingham, 34, is the youngest of four coaches in their 30s to qualify for the playoffs.
Millennials are claiming this era as their own, so you can even book a tee time or join the Boomers and “College Game Days.”
And Freeman has proven that coaches at schools with resources and tradition can move from unproven rookie to hot commodity at breakneck speed.
What we got: Why Ohio State and Notre Dame deserve to be champions.
IT favors: Ohio State and Notre Dame rescued in expansion playoffs
Will you stay with Notre Dame or focus on the NFL’s Chicago Bears?
Freeman might relish the opportunity to call the next shot. The Chicago Bears, just a short drive down Interstate 90 from Notre Dame, are interested in interviewing Freeman for their coaching vacancy, NFL Network reported Sunday.
Notre Dame recently gave Freeman a contract extension through the 2030 season, and while his salary at the private school is not public record, he is widely believed to rank among the highest-paid coaches in the country.
Freeman has been downplaying NFL rumors lately.
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” he told ESPN.
Freeman certainly has nothing to worry about. He only has a trump card.
It’s a win-win situation whether he stays at Notre Dame or jumps to the NFL. But reviving the Bears will be a tougher task than keeping Notre Dame ringing. Ask several coaches who followed Lovie Smith and failed how easy it is to win in Chicago. Freeman should think twice before walking away from Notre Dame.
In South Bend, Freeman could continue as the popular coach who made Notre Dame, long one of the most polarizing programs in college football, popular with the public. Freeman’s movie star looks probably have something to do with it, but so does his calm demeanor, a contrast to his red-faced predecessor Brian Kelly.
No matter what Kelly hinted at coaching the Irish as his best job after leaving Notre Dame for LSU and the school adjusting to the evolution of college football.
Notre Dame doesn’t threaten its status as the “portal king,” but several transfers have made it difficult for Notre Dame to do so, from quarterback Riley Leonard to kicker Mitch Jeter to strip-sack defensive lineman R.J. Oben. contributed to this journey. Freeman was instrumental in the revitalization of the new Notre Dame Cathedral, which suited NIL and a high-impact relocation.
Former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told NBC Sports that in hiring Freeman, “we almost saw it as an advantage to have someone as a head coach who is not set in his ways.” Ta. So that we can shift accordingly. ”
Swarbrick gambled on his first coaching choice, but the jury continued to ignore Freeman in September. Notre Dame and Freeman reached an inflection point after the Irish suffered a shocking loss to Northern Illinois on their home field in Week 2. Combine that result with the 2022 losses to Marshall and an inferior Stanford team, and Freeman has three losses against opponents who have little use for him. Defeat the Irish.
Freeman and his Irish players failed to land after a rocky start, proving this run in a win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
The day before the College Football Playoff semifinal game, Penn State coach James Franklin, 52, joked about Freeman’s youth and impressive hairline, then praised his coaching skills. Whatever Franklin’s intentions, Freeman used those wise cracks as fuel. In his third full season, he evaded Penn State’s veteran coach and made his way to the big stage.
One more win would solidify Freeman as the handsome face of college football’s millennial moment.
Blake Topmeyer is a national college football columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email [email protected] and follow us at X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.