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Newsstand: Where Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman ranks among CFB coaches as a player

Kyle Kellyby: Kyle Kelly05/26/25ByKyleKelly
marcus freeman grit
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. (Mike Miller, Blue & Gold)

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman has appeared on many lists featuring the top head coaches in college football entering the 2025 season. On Monday, he claimed a spot on another — this one a unique set of rankings by ESPN reporter Adam Rittenberg.

Rittenberg ranked the top 30 coaches based on their careers as college football players. Freeman checked in at No. 19.

“A Parade high school All-American from the Dayton, Ohio, area, Freeman played college ball at Ohio State, where he started 37 games at linebacker, often alongside James Laurinaitis,” Rittenberg said. “He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in each of his final two seasons, and finished with 268 career tackles, including 23 for loss and six sacks, as well as two interceptions and two forced fumbles. A fifth-round NFL draft pick, Freeman spent time with three teams before retiring because of a heart condition.”

Freeman was one of three former linebackers on Rittenberg’s list, joining Utah coach Kyle Whittingham (No. 12), Oregon State coach Trent Bray (No. 17) and Purdue coach Barry Odom (No. 24). Whittingham played at BYU and had 240 career tackles, Bray had 337 stops at Oregon State and Odom amassed 362 takedowns for Missouri.

Freeman will face Odom’s Boilermakers on Sept. 20 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish’s fourth-year coach has not faced Whittingham or Bray in his coaching career.

Notre Dame Posts of the Weekend 

The Irish have three of the top-10 non-conference games in 2025, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.

Rising junior running back Jeremiyah Love’s 98-yard touchdown was a highlight of Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run. 

Irish graduate student defensive end Jordan Botelho looks fully recovered from his 2024 season-ending knee injury.

Notre Dame Quote of the Weekend

“They might’ve had the same ending in a national title game, but football people understand the difference between the kind of roster Freeman has built vs. the staff before.”

— An anonymous coach to Athlon Sports about the Irish entering the 2025 season. 

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