Marcus Freeman Reveals Difficult Family Sacrifice He Quietly Made for Notre Dame

Turns out that Marcus Freeman has gained more trust in the Notre Dame camp than his predecessor, Brian Kelly, did. Remember what Stephen A. Smith said, singing high in Freeman’s praise? In a conversation with CFB critic Paul Finebaum, the analyst said, “Think about that, Paul. We go around, and Notre Dame hasn’t really, I mean, this kid Marcus Freeman, this coach is doing a hell of a job. He’s got them relevant.” But the path to becoming relevant wasn’t easy, as it came with a personal heartbreak.

Even though Kelly went undefeated in the regular season, he lost the BCS National Championship Game against the Crimson Tide. But Freeman achieved something that Kelly couldn’t. A New Year’s Sugar Bowl game win over Georgia. Now that they have missed their Natty by a hair’s breadth last season, Freeman has dived into the process of making up for it. However, this time he will not have one of his biggest cheerleaders, his son, Vinny, around.

Freeman and his wife Joanna have six children- Vinny, Siena, Gino, Nico, Capri, and Rocco. His firstborn, Vinny, did not follow in his dad’s footsteps into college football – picked up wrestling instead. Back in April, the junior at Penn High School in Mishawaka (Ind.) announced that he has committed to wrestle at Cornell. Indeed, it has been a proud moment for Coach Freeman. But at the same time, his heart would ache to stay away from Vinny as Freeman chose to sweetly sacrifice because his other child, the Fighting Irish camp, needs him the most. On the July 30 episode of the ESPN College Football podcast, the head coach shared, “I put a little bit of pressure on our athletic director, Pete Bevacqua.”

Freeman continued, “I said, ‘Hey, if you bring back this wrestling program to Notre Dame, maybe I can keep him home.’ But that’s a work in progress. But, yeah, I’m proud of him, to find the right place for him. And, I look forward to seeing what his future holds at Cornell.” As per the reports, Notre Dame discontinued its wrestling program in 1992. They made the decision 18 months after the death of benefactor Bucky O’Connor and rerouted the funding to football. While there is no clarity on whether Notre Dame would bring back the program or not, Freeman is soaking in his son’s pride.

For a change, he has been on the other side of the pitching spree, where scouts came to his home to woo the parents of the hot recruit, Vinny. The Notre Dame head coach shared about his experience, “Hey, the number one lesson in sales is [to] understand who’s helping that person make the decision. And what Cornell was able to do was understand that my wife was really the decision maker. People who were reaching out to me, you’re not going to get much out of that. But she was on the journey with him um from start to finish.” Many times, Freeman had professional commitments, and that’s when his wife accompanied their son. Now, that the Notre Dame head coach knows that his son is in good hands, he can give his 100% focus on his team. After all, he has some promise to keep.  

Opponents warned not to take Marcus Freeman easy

Freeman is a man who never lets losses break the team’s morale. Remember how Fighting Irish crushed Penn State with a 24-27 win in the Orange Bowl after landing in the hot seat because of their home loss to Northern Illinois? After the win, Freeman shared, “You find a lot about your team in the lowest moments. And it’s a group that stayed together, trusted each other…In those toughest times, that’s when you make the major gains.” Now, isn’t this confidence natural?

After all, Freeman pulled off the three biggest postseason wins in over 30 years and landed a spot in the National Championship game. Analyst Tyler Horka had already raised a warning on how to proceed with caution when handling Freeman’s boys. In March 2025, the analyst tweeted, “I just got the vibe from him yesterday of a guy who is way more comfortable and getting to that point with each season, with each day, with each spring practice session.” Well, Freeman has good enough reasons to feel confident. Above all is his quarterback, CJ Carr, who is named the Heisman dark horse. 

On July 21, On3’s Andy Staples came up with a list. He has placed Marcus Freeman’s quarterback at +4500 odds. If spring game statistics mean anything, Carr went 14-of-19 for 170 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Freeman’s quarterback has been a high school phenom and now walks in with a 68.1% completion rate for  2,685 yards and 26 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. 247Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu holds high expectations. He said Carr is a “very cerebral player who studies the game and thinks the game. His processing speed should only get faster. Has good, classic passing mechanics and accuracy… very safe projection as a college starter based on maturity, approach, and skillset.” Last year was close. Now it’s up to Freeman to turn title dreams into reality.