Marcus Freeman keeps climbing the national coaching conversation, and ESPN has him right near the top.
Heading into the 2026 college football season, ESPN ranked the Notre Dame head coach No. 4 in the country, placing him behind only Curt Cignetti, Kirby Smart and Ryan Day. For Freeman, it’s another sign of how far he’s pushed the Fighting Irish in just five seasons in South Bend.
He enters year five with a 43-12 record and a 24-4 mark over the last two seasons. Notre Dame reached its first national championship appearance since 2012 in 2024 and snapped a 30-year major bowl win drought along the way. Even after the Irish were left out of last season’s College Football Playoffs, they still signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to Rivals/On3.
ESPN writer Max Olson said Freeman was very much in the mix for the No. 4 spot.
"I wouldn't say I'm low on Freeman at all," Olson explained. "After Cignetti, Smart and Day, I viewed it as a three-way battle for the No. 4 spot among Freeman, Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian.
All three have done an exceptional job of building up their respective programs over the past four years. Now it's time for one of them to break through and win a national title.
"Lanning has the best record (48-8) of this trio since 2022. Freeman has the most top-25 wins with 16.
Sarkisian has two top-four finishes. Lanning and Sarkisian maintaining their success despite moving into tough conferences has been impressive to me.
Considering all three of these coaches have championship expectations for 2026, I think the season ahead will tell us plenty about who's the best of this bunch."
Freeman’s résumé is built on big wins in big moments. Since 2022, Notre Dame has picked up five postseason victories: over ranked South Carolina in the Gator Bowl in 2022, ranked Oregon State in the Sun Bowl in 2023, Indiana at home in the first round of the 2024 CFP, Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals and Penn State in the Orange Bowl in the CFP semifinals.
The Irish have also been one of the nation’s toughest teams against ranked competition under Freeman. Notre Dame is 16-7 against AP Top 25 opponents during his tenure, a mark that ranks No. 2 since 2022 behind only Georgia and Kirby Smart, who came in at No. 2 on ESPN’s list. By comparison, Notre Dame was 23-23 against ranked opponents under Brian Kelly.
Now Freeman is chasing the biggest prize of all. Notre Dame is trying to end its longest postseason drought and bring the program its first national title since 1988.
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