Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has continued to be linked to vacant NFL jobs, despite the Fighting Irish establishment repeatedly signaling that his future lies in South Bend.
After a 10-2 season, during which Notre Dame narrowly missed out on a spot in the College Football season, Freeman’s name has been in the thick of the coaching carousel rumors.
Marcus Freeman Addresses NFL Job Speculation
On Tuesday, longtime Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stepped down, sending shock waves through the NFL and once again throwing Freeman’s name into the spin cycle for the lucrative NFL job.
More than eight NFL jobs have fallen vacant in the past few weeks after a wild end to the regular season and wild-card round. During a news conference on Wednesday, Freeman addressed the speculation linking him with vacant NFL jobs.
Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman on NFL teams having interest in him:
“I’m the head coach of Notre Dame.”
He said he does utilize having conversations with NFL teams to gain wisdom and knowledge.pic.twitter.com/yWMNppbqMa
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 14, 2026
“I’m the head coach at Notre Dame,” Freeman said. “Individual success, NFL interest, those are all a reflection of team success and where this program is. I don’t control the noise, but I know the noise that’s in my head and where my focus is. I don’t need to come out with a statement every time one of these job openings happens.”
“Everything I want and everything that I need personally can be achieved right here. Do I want to be? I’ve never done it. I don’t know enough about it. 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.”
In four seasons at Notre Dame, Freeman has accumulated a respectable 43-12 record, including leading the Fighting Irish to the national championship game, where they lost to eventual champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, last year.
Last season, despite the Fighting Irish scoring a B+ in PFSN’s CFB Defense Impact metric and a B+ in the CFB Offense Impact metric, they were controversially left out of the College Football Playoff, denying Freeman’s team a chance to play for a national championship.
ESPN Analyst Urges Steelers To Insist on Freeman
During this week’s segment of SportsCenter, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky urged the Steelers to insist on Freeman as Tomlin’s replacement at Pittsburgh, despite his commitment to the Fighting Irish.
“If I were the Pittsburgh Steelers, I think the first name that I would call would be Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame,” Orlovsky said. “I would call Marcus Freeman, and I don’t think I’d get off the phone. I would do everything I could to throw everything I could at Marcus Freeman.”
“He’s one of the great leaders in football right now, college or the NFL. I think he fits a lot of the characteristics that we’ve seen from Mike Tomlin and Bill Cowher. It’s a new day in Pittsburgh.”
In 19 years at the helm, Tomlin accumulated a 193-114-2 record, including a win in Super Bowl 43. His stepping down this week will force the Steelers to embark on only their fourth coaching search since 1969.
