‘For many coaches, the NFL is the ultimate goal. For Marcus Freeman, it’s an ‘unnecessary stress’ he’s happy to avoid, and he just made it clear why Notre Dame is where he belongs.  He had previously shut down off-season rumors in December last year, posting, “2026…run it back. Go Irish,” on social media. His recent sit-down on The Herd only doubles down on that choice, confirming he passed up real opportunities to stay in South Bend.

“They don’t want you to be good. They don’t want you to continuously win, win, win,” Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman stated. “They’re going to make it as hard as possible when you do have success. It’s good to know, right? It was just things that I was made aware of as we continued to talk to some different NFL personnel and administrators. But I have such a special, special job. And one that is so well supported that we have to continuously work, but you’re going to have opportunities to have success every single year.”

Freeman is right that the NFL is very competitive, and it is hard for any team to keep winning all the time. Teams always change their game plans to stop strong and successful teams. Also, the league has rules like salary caps and drafts. These rules are made to keep all teams more equal and balanced, so no one team stays too dominant for long.

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Whereas in college football, coaches have power; they control their entire team. While the transfer portal and NIL bring new challenges, top programs can quickly rebuild and dominate by bringing in elite talent. Leaving it all and going into some place new, where Freeman has to fight for relevance, did not seem to make sense for the Notre Dame head coach.

It’s not surprising to see Marcus Freeman garnering interest from the NFL. His time at Notre Dame has been somewhat successful, winning 43 games while losing only 12. Freeman has also won four bowl games and even reached the College Football Playoff final. As he enters his fifth full season as head coach, he’s doing so as a coach with one of the best winning records in the team’s history.

However, moving from college football to the big leagues is rarely a simple transition for coaches.

In college football, players are younger and usually listen to coaches more easily. But in the NFL, players are older, more experienced, and earn a lot of money, so they expect more respect and don’t always follow coaches the same way. This is one reason why some college coaches struggle in the NFL. For example, Urban Meyer had a very tough time with the Jacksonville Jaguars. His team performed badly, and he was fired after just one season with a 2–11 record.

The NFL is very result-driven. If a team keeps losing, the coach can lose their job very fast. There is much more pressure compared to college football. Another example is Steve Spurrier, who coached the Washington Redskins. He also struggled in the NFL and finished with a 12–20 record. His coaching style, which worked well in college, did not work as effectively in the NFL.

Plus, his connection to Notre Dame is something that makes him closer to the team.

Marcus Freeman’s strong ties to Notre Dame

Loyalty is very important to Marcus Freeman. He did not come from another school. Notre Dame already had him on their staff when Brian Kelly left. In 2021, he got promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach. This shows that Notre Dame trusted him a lot and believed in him enough to give him the top job quickly.

What makes this job more important for him is that this opportunity is nothing but special for him. Since the moment Freeman joined the team, the people of the program have been nothing but welcoming.

“That’s why doing it at the University of Notre Dame is so special. It’s special because of the people,” Freeman said. “The people here make this opportunity special. The people that are currently here, the students, the faculty, the countless other people that step on this campus, the people that have come through Notre Dame and have planted themselves throughout the world.”

On top of that, Marcus Freeman has clear goals set for Notre Dame this year. The head coach has been working day and night this spring to guide his team back to the playoffs. For now, the NFL will just have to wait.