Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman spoke with reporters Wednesday for the first time since the Irish were left out of the College Football Playoff.
He touched on multiple topics, including addressing some big additions through the transfer portal. Here are six things Freeman said:
Freeman preaches to his players that they need to “leave no doubt” when it comes to the College Football Playoff
The “Here Come the Irish” docuseries on Peacock recently showed the moment the Irish coaches and players found out that Alabama and Miami made the CFP over them.
Freeman stared at the video screen with his mouth open. Players put their faces in their hands.
Freeman said Wednesday that he thought the series properly captured the disappointment and confusion they felt. A month later, he said there’s still disappointment for the Irish, who had been ranked No. 9 or 10 up until the selection show. Miami, which will play Indiana in the national championship Monday, received the last spot in the 12-team CFP.
“But you have to move forward, and that’s what we’ve done as a program,” Freeman said. “That’s what I’ve done as a leader. As I reminded the group in our team meeting on Sunday, it’s our responsibility to make sure we leave no doubt. We can’t blame it on somebody else. Although I may be confused about some of the criteria and the committee’s rankings and all those different things, it’s our job as we move forward to make sure we leave no doubt.”
Freeman said he hasn’t second-guessed his team’s decision to skip a bowl game after being left out of the CFP. He said he was proud of how the captains made the decision and didn’t believe it was an emotional one.
He asked them again and again if they were sure about the decision.
“Because I didn’t want them to regret it,” Freeman said. “And they were convicted in their decision, and I fully support them.”
Freeman said his immediate future is to be the head coach at Notre Dame
Freeman’s name has popped up a few times in this NFL hiring cycle. But he announced he was staying at Notre Dame on Dec. 29, when he posted on social media: “2026…run it back”
Freeman noted that he always tells his players that the future is uncertain.
“But everything I want and everything that I need personally can be achieved right here as a head coach of this program,” he said. “And so I hope this is something we have to address every year. I really do because it means we’re having a lot of success right here at Notre Dame.”
Freeman said he has used discussions with NFL teams to gather information and learn how he can be a better coach. He said he didn’t know if an NFL job would interest him at some point in the future.
“I don’t know enough about it,” he said.” Maybe sometime in the future, if it’s the right time and it’s what I think is right for me, then maybe I’ll pursue it. But I don’t love wasting time thinking about things that aren’t right in front of me, and so I don’t know what I will want in however much length of time from now. I know right now that I am as convicted and motivated to be the best head coach of the Notre Dame football program as I can be.”
Freeman believes the Notre Dame-USC rivalry will be revived in the future
Last month, Notre Dame and USC put their 96-game rivalry series on pause because they couldn’t agree to the timing of the 2026 game. The Irish then scheduled BYU for a home-and-home series instead.
Freeman said he believes the rivalry is “important for college football” and the athletic department leaders will work to get it back at some point. But he said the proposed timing wasn’t best for Notre Dame and its 2026 CFP pursuit.
“I’m a competitive individual, right?” Freeman said. “And I want to go play anytime, anywhere, but at the same token, it’s important that I make decisions too that are best for the program. And to move a game that we were pretty sure was going to be Week 12 to Week 0 isn’t what’s best for our program. And they had to make decisions that were best for their program. I don’t blame them. They had to make decisions. We had to make decisions.”
Freeman said he “behaved in a respectful and professional manner while protecting my family” during a recent incident at his son’s wrestling event
Freeman believes his family’s name was “dragged through the mud unnecessarily” over a recent interaction at a high school wrestling tournament.
An assistant high school wrestling coach, identified by the South Bend Tribune as Chris Fleeger, accused Freeman of battery at the event, saying Freeman pushed him with two hands. But the St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office said it determined through video evidence and interviews that no criminal battery occurred, and Freeman won’t be charged.
“I was confident in this outcome because I know I did not intentionally touch anyone in a rude, angry or disrespectful way,” Freeman said. “I’m glad this matter has been thoroughly reviewed and resolved.”
Freeman took issue of the initial reporting of the incident by the South Bend Tribune before all of the evidence was released.
Notre Dame said in a statement Sunday that the wrestling coach verbally accosted Freeman’s son, Vinny, a senior who signed to wrestle at Cornell, and Freeman and his wife tried to remove their son from the situation.
“I know I’m a public figure, and I understand the scrutiny that comes with that,” Freeman said. “That scrutiny should not extend to my children or any other child of a public figure.”
Freeman is happy to get a pair of wide receivers on Notre Dame’s second try
The Irish recently announced the additions of former Ohio State wide receivers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham.
Porter was the nation’s fifth-ranked wide receiver and the No. 1 player from New Jersey in the 2025 class. He had four catches for 59 yards in four games as an Ohio State freshman after missing some time with an injury.
Graham, who was a five-star prospect and the nation’s fifth-ranked receiver in 2024, had six catches for 93 yards in 2025.
“We knew a lot about them in the high school recruiting process, who they were, the type of players they are,” Freeman said. “And I’m glad we were able to get them.”
Notre Dame also landed in the portal former Alabama edge rusher Keon Keeley, who was a five-star recruit ranked No. 2 in the 247Sports composite rankings in 2023. Keeley originally had committed to Notre Dame out of high school before flipping to Alabama.
Freeman called it “a little delayed gratification.”
“I’ve always believed Keon was a Notre Dame kid coming from his high school,” he said. “He’s such a unique individual. He’s a very talented football player. … When he came on his visit, I’m like, ‘Yep, it’s the same Keon we recruited a couple years ago.’ And he fits here, and I’m excited for his future.”
Freeman gives injury updates on two of his linebackers
Freeman said linebacker Drayk Bowen had surgery on the labrum in his hip, but he expects him to return in some capacity this spring.
The Irish expect linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa to be back to full-go around the start of the 2026 season. He is recovering from an ACL injury.