This is about Marcus Freeman’s future at Notre Dame

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman stepped up to the podium in the media room inside Notre Dame Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, and there was a bit of tension in the air. While this press conference fell under the category of “normal portal wrap up,” the events of the last month definitely made this something more.

This press conference was about Marcus Freeman and his future with Notre Dame.

Freeman took the opportunity right away to address a certain situation that had been brewing for about a week and a half — and he wasn’t happy about it and had a prepared written statement to make sure he covered it all.

“I want to address the recent accusations made against me, and it’s important for me to speak on behalf of my family and myself. First of all, I want to thank Notre Dame for its support and immediate response to this matter. I’m grateful for their trust and defense of me even before the video evidence was released. I also want to thank the Penn High School administration, the community and countless others who have reached out to me and my family.”

“I want to commend the journalists who handled their reporting with integrity. I know many of you in this room were aware of the situation as it was unfolding and I appreciate your patience and not rushing to report without having all the facts and information. It is also important to me to express my extreme disappointment with one particular local media outlet and a reporter who I believe chose to do the opposite. Had they handled themselves more professionally and waited for more facts to become available, this would not have become a sensationalized story making national headlines. Because they chose not to do so, my family and I have been dragged through the mud unnecessarily with clickbait headlines.”

“The reality is I behaved in a respectful and professional manner while protecting my family, and that should have been the only headline. Journalistic integrity should matter. Upholding ethical principles in news reporting with accuracy and fairness should matter. I know I’m a public figure and I understand the scrutiny that comes with that. That scrutiny should not extend to my children or any other child of a public figure.”

“Lastly, I want to thank the Mishawaka Police Department and the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office for their efforts in this matter. They examined all the evidence, including video footage and witness statements, and concluded that no criminal battery took place and that no charges should be filed. I was confident in this outcome because I know I did not intentionally touch anyone in a rude, angry, or disrespectful way. I’m glad this matter has been thoroughly reviewed and resolved. Out of respect for everyone involved, I won’t comment further and will move forward with my family and team.”

This whole matter felt like it was put to rest the other day, but obviously this pissed off the Freeman family and they wanted to make sure they killed it, cut off its head, and buried it under 10 feet of concrete.

Moving on…

Marcus Freeman will not be moving on to the NFL and has no plans to do so anytime soon.

This was the probably the most important part of the day. For weeks, rumors about Marcus Freeman leaving Notre Dame for the NFL spread all over the internet. There was a lot of smoke in the air about Freeman — but there wasn’t a real fire. It was more like a candle or something like that, and Marcus said he feels pretty good about being at Notre Dame.

“Head coach at Notre Dame. I’ve said this before, that individual recognition, individual success, NFL interest, those are all reflections of team success and where this football program is. I’ve used some of the interest from the NFL to personally gain wisdom from maybe some of the GMs or the front office executives that you get a chance to talk to about your players, but also about what they view as a successful coach. Maybe it’s an NFL coach, but what are some of the things they’ve seen that have made a coach successful in their organization or franchise and maybe not so successful?”

“And so I utilize these opportunities through conversations to gain knowledge myself to be the best head coach I can be of the Notre Dame football program. That’s where my mindset is. I don’t control the noise, but again, I know the noise that’s in my head and where my focus is.” 

Wild stuff. The man was out there seeking knowledge like Indiana Jones seeks things that belong in a museum, and if you thought this knowledge might change his thinking about his current employment… nope.

“I didn’t have to re-evaluate, right? Other people may say I re-evaluated. I didn’t ever have to re-evaluate. Again, the only statement I put out was let’s run it back. I was intentional about that. I don’t need to come out with a statement every time one of these job openings happen. I always say the future is uncertain. That’s what I tell our players. That’s what I tell myself. It’s the reality of life.

“But everything I want and everything that I need personally can be achieved right here as the head coach of this program. I hope this is something we have to address every year. I really do, because it means we’re having a lot of success right here at Notre Dame. If this isn’t something we have to address, then there’s bigger issues, I think, within what we’re doing as a football program because as your program has success, these type of things are going to occur.”

His statements and answers about the NFL didn’t seem to satisfy the media in the room, so they made sure they asked about it several more times. Marcus used different words each time to say the exact same thing he said before.

“I’m always open and honest with our administration, our recruits, our current players and it’s important they hear from me and not maybe what’s on the media or social media. It’s not just gaining knowledge from NFL executives. I gain knowledge from coaches around here. I spend time with Micah (Shrewsberry) and some of our other coaches and I’m always looking for ways to improve.”

“It’s the same things we challenge our players to do every single day, right? Is how do you find ways to improve today? How do you find ways to choose hard to do it today? That’s what I want to do. If I can utilize, Brad Stevens, here to watch his son play. Can I meet with you? Let’s just talk. What have you seen in your coaches in your time that help certain people become successful? I think that’s what I want to be example of from our players, but that’s what I believe in my heart, which makes maybe the best of the best is they’re never satisfied. They’re always looking for a way to improve.” 

“Do I want to be, I mean, I don’t really, I’ve never done it. I don’t know enough about it. It may be 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. I don’t love wasting time thinking about things that aren’t right in front of me. I don’t know what I’ll want in how much length of time from now, I don’t know. But I know right now that I am as convicted and motivated to be the best head coach of the Notre Dame football program as I can be.”

Marcus Freeman plans on being at Notre Dame in the future, but to follow through on that future Freeman has to have the Irish produce on the field. To do that — he needs talent, which brings us to the second biggest part of the day… Notre Dame’s roster plan for 2026.

With all of the hoopla surrounding recruiting and the transfer portal, the number one factor for success for the Irish in 2026 is the returning roster. Marcus made sure to mention how important roster retention is and how pleased he is with what Notre Dame did this year.

“Well, I think being able to … The job we did in retaining our roster speaks to the culture of those guys want to be here and they want to be a part of what we’re building and what’s ahead of us. It’s a challenge for young student-athletes right now. The transfer portal is enticing. I’m not going to get into too much of it, but I think it’s hard because there’s so many voices pulling at these young people from agents, from parents, from their coaches about what’s the right decision. If you do this, you go into the portal, you might make more money.”

“But when you see the core nucleus of our players say, ‘You know what? I’m coming back to Notre Dame, I’m signing that contract, let’s go to work. I’m excited for the future.’ It speaks to the culture of our program. And the guys we’ve signed, those guys were as wanted as anybody else in the country in the transfer portal. And for those guys to choose Notre Dame for the values that this place entails, it’s bigger than football. If you’re coming here just to play football, it’s not going to work.”

“And you have to understand you’re coming to a program where you’re going to be demanded to put the team in front of yourself. If you’re making this decision to do what’s best for you and to get as much production as you can, then it’s probably not going to be the right place. And I’m very clear in my conversations with potential prospects that this is what you’re demanded to do in our football program.”

“And the guys that decided to come here said, ‘That’s what I want.’ And I’m excited for the addition and the Core Nucleus guy that stayed.”

Sure — we can talk some more about the portal additions and the new approach to undergrad transfers, but at the core of it all is Marcus Freeman’s future with Notre Dame and that heavily depends on his happiness, success in recruiting, and the ability to retain the talent on hand.

This is what I took away from Wednesday’s presser. Everything else just felt like window dressing (despite it not being window dressing at all). I can’t wait to see how it will all come together over the next 7 months.