Marcus Freeman talks about approach to hiring minority coaches

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wants to provide equal opportunity to coaches across the nation. However, he also wants to win. He won’t let those two things get in the way of one another.

“If there’s a qualified Black man or minority, search and find them. But, at the end of the day, if you can’t help us win, I can have every coach on my staff be Black, and if we lose, we’re all gone,” Freeman said on a recent episode of “The Pivot Podcast.” “My job is to make sure you’re bringing in people that are gonna help us have success, right? Success with our players, success on the football field.”

Freeman is the second Black head coach in Notre Dame history. However, there’s more to Freeman’s story. The 37-year-old coach’s mother is Korean. Freeman’s father met her while serving in the Air Force in South Korea. Marcus was born at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center in Fairborn, Ohio.

Thus, Freeman is also the first Asian coach in the Fighting Irish’s history and only the second Asian head coach at this level. After years of work behind the facemask and the whistle, Freeman earned his spot. Now, he wants to help other minority coaches reap similar rewards.

He’s certainly had role models along the way.

“That’s what [Pittsburgh Steelers head coach] Mike Tomlin did to me. Right?” Freeman said. “Mike Tomlin reached out to me. [Former Indianapolis Colts head coach] Tony Dungy reached out to me, ‘If you ever need anything, I’m a resource.’ So, when we lost the Marshall, Mike Tomlin and Tony Dungy, people reached out to me that didn’t have to. I want to make sure that I’m doing the same thing.”

There’s no doubt Freeman needed the support. Freeman’s head coaching campaign didn’t begin the way he envisioned. The Fighting Irish lost its first game of the season last year against a tough Ohio State team. Acceptable. They followed up the shortcoming with a stunning loss to Marshall. Unacceptable.

Coaches like Tomlin and Dungy helped push Freeman through the tough times. They succeeded. Fueled by Freeman, Notre Dame finished last season 9-4 and defeated a hot South Carolina team to close the campaign.

Freeman wants to give other minority coaches the same kindness Dungy and Tomlin showed him.

“What can I do to help and maybe it’s not just hiring every coach that’s a Black man,” Freeman said. “I tried to get on some Zooms, and I tried to say, ‘Listen, if you reach out to me, I’ll respond. And I have some coaches.’ It can be a gym code. It could be Division I GAs. They reach out to me, and I try to respond when I can.”