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Newsstand: Marcus Freeman has two words when asked if he'll stay at Notre Dame

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka12/04/25tbhorka

Marcus Freeman joined the TODAY Show Wednesday as part of a media tour to get Notre Dame’s name out there in the days preceding Sunday’s College Football Playoff selection show that will determine his team’s postseason fate.

In or out? That’s the question for the 10-2 Fighting Irish.

Freeman made a concise case for the Irish to be in on the show.

“We’ve won 10 games in a row by double digit points,” he said. “We’re playing as consistent and well as we have all season.”

Whether that will be enough to fend off Miami, a team that beat the Irish in the season opener and has surged from 18th to 12th in the CFP rankings over the last five weeks, will be settled on Sunday. Whether or not it even comes down to those two teams has a lot to do with what happens in the Big 12 championship game; both Notre Dame and Miami need BYU to lose to Texas Tech to prevent an at-large spot going to the Red Raiders in the event of a Cougars win.

Freeman needed even fewer words to answer a simpler question on the set of the show; is he staying put in South Bend amidst a college football coaching carousel that’s rotating wildly this cyle?

“Oh yeah,” he said with a smile. “Oh yeah.”

So there you have it. Freeman will either be coaching in the CFP for the second consecutive season, or it’s back to a one-and-done bowl game. Sunday, we’ll know which it is.

Notre Dame social media posts of the day

The Irish welcomed 27 commits on national signing day and finished with the No. 2 class in the country.

Running back Jeremiyah Love is a Walter Camp Player of the Year finalist.

Quarterback CJ Carr is a Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year finalist.

Fighting Irish quote of the day

“You always look for cause and effect,” Freeman said. “You look for a reason why you go up or you fall. For me, you didn’t see a great explanation for why we fell when we had the performance we did last Saturday. And so, disappointed that we fell, just because I don’t necessarily agree with it.”

— Marcus Freeman on dropping one spot behind Alabama in the latest CFP rankings

Blue & Gold headlines of the day

• A Notre Dame football recruiting surge for the ages may be just getting started
• By the numbers: Putting Notre Dame’s historic 2026 recruiting class in context
• Notre Dame football: Five class of 2026 signees who can contribute as true freshmen

• National Signing Day report card: 2026 Notre Dame football recruiting class grades
• 10 thoughts to reflect on Notre Dame’s National Signing Day
• Inside Notre Dame GM Mike Martin’s morphing world of recruiting, NIL and the transfer portal