The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and head coach Marcus Freeman were left out of the College Football Playoff picture in controversial fashion.
Despite finishing out the season with a 10-game winning streak, the Fighting Irish lost their first two games of the season to the Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies. That was enough to take away their chance of making a second straight run to the national championship game.
Following the committee’s decision to leave Notre Dame out of the playoff, the team decided to reject its bowl game invite.
Soon after the season came to an end, Freeman’s name started popping up in NFL rumors. Plenty of teams around the league are looking for new head coaches and Freeman is one of the more popular names in the college scene under consideration.
Even though Freeman took to social media to declare that he was committed to the Fighting Irish, rumors keep coming out.
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky has brought up Freeman’s name again. This time, he made it clear that he thinks the Notre Dame head coach would be the perfect candidate to replace Mike Tomlin on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“If I were the Pittsburgh Steelers, I think the first name that I would call would be Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame,” Orlovsky said.
Marcus Freeman Deserves Consideration After His Success at Notre Dame
GettyMarcus Freeman anticipates a challenge in Boise State.
Freeman took over the Fighting Irish head coaching job back in 2021. Since taking over the job, he has led the program to an impressive 43-12 record. As previously mentioned, he took Notre Dame to the national championship last season before coming up short against Ohio State.
There are few head coaches who have a more impressive track record over the last five seasons.
It would take an impressive offer to pry Freeman away from the Fighting Irish. He has made it clear how much he loves Notre Dame and that he wants to continue his mission of leading the program back to a title.
While he loves his current situation, an offer to coach a historic NFL franchise might be too much for him to pass on.
Why the Steelers Might Be the Perfect Team for Freeman
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Tomlin stepping down on Tuesday was a major surprise. Even though there had been rumors about his future being uncertain, he has been leading the Steelers since all the way back in 2007.
Seeing Pittsburgh play without Tomlin on the sideline will feel strange. However, Freeman could be the perfect candidate to pick things up.
Freeman is an elite defensive mind. That is where the Steelers have prided themselves over the years. He isn’t Tomlin, but he has the same hard-nosed mindset.
A fresh voice seems to be what is needed in Pittsburgh. Not only would Freeman be a fresh voice, but he’s only 40 years old and could forge a long future for himself with the Steelers just like Tomlin did. At the very least, this is a legitimate scenario to keep an eye on.
Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman Linked to Historic NFL Team