Marcus Freeman vs. the Nation’s Best: Where Does He Stand in 2025?

When college football season nears, different rankings always tend to emerge and this year is no different. Sure, we get the preseason polls after a spring that was full of the "way too early" stuff, but one that always comes out is the ranking of top head coaches in the sport.

Various outlets put them out, but we'll focus on Pete Fiutak's over at College Football News. Fiutak put his out late last week and had major praise for Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman, putting the fourth-year head coach third overall.

Only Ryan Day (2) and Kirby Smart (1) came in above Freeman.

Marcus Freeman's Resume

Freeman came to Notre Dame as the defensive coordinator in 2021 and after Brian Kelly's surprise exit to LSU, was named head coach that December. In three years at the helm, Freeman has certainly had some lows, but finished last year with Notre Dame's greatest highs in decades.

Notre Dame started 0-3 under Freeman, which included a blown Fiesta Bowl lead against Oklahoma State and home loss to Marshall. He's also had head-scratching losses to a woeful Stanford team in 2022, and last year's epic upset loss to Northern Illinois.

That said, he headed Notre Dame's turnaround last season, guiding the Fighting Irish to the National Championship Game. To get there, they beat Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State in what is as impressive of three-game stretch as you've ever seen from the program.

Consistency is Key in Head Coaches

Notre Dame fans hate hearing the old Brian Kelly quote that "Winning is hard" but that's a fact. Sure, wins against MAC teams when you're Notre Dame shouldn't be difficult, but winning at a high level for a sustained amount of time is as impressive of thing as a head coach can do.

Is Ed Orgeron a great head coach because he won a national title at LSU? No, he was fired not even two years later, because LSU wasn't sustaining success under his lead. Same with Gene Chizik in Auburn 15 years ago.

As impressive as Freeman was last season, he's shown nothing in regards to establishing Notre Dame as a sustained force in college football yet. That's not to say he won't, it's simply acknowledging he's yet to.

Nick Shepkowski's Top 10 College Football Coaches

10. Brian Kelly - LSU

Kelly didn't have the consistency early at Notre Dame. He peaked in 2012 before a couple of down years. The program changed for the better following a disastrous 2016 that came under his watch. His CEO type approach works and launched him to the LSU job. 2025 is a College Football Playoff or bust year for his Tigers, but it seems the program is ramping up following a significant rebuild from what he inherited.

9. Jeff Brohm - Louisville

Brohm turned Purdue's program around, and it fell on its face the second he left for Louisville. Brohm has won 19 games in two seasons with the Cardinals, and is building what should become a regular threat in the ACC.

8. Chris Kleiman - Kansas State

He won championship after championship at North Dakota before getting the Kansas State job. All he's done since is take over for Manhattan legend Bill Snyder and lead the Wildcats to three-straight 10-win seasons.

7. James Franklin - Penn State

Say what you want about Franklin in big games, he regularly gets Penn State to play in them, and that is no small feat. Now winning a couple of them a year becomes the challenge as Penn State enters 2025 as a legit national title threat.

6. Marcus Freeman - Notre Dame

How can I possibly rank Freeman, fresh off a national championship appearance, this low? He's yet to establish that consistency I discussed earlier. 2024 showed Notre Dame can win big under his watch, but now the question is can they do it on an annual basis? That's what separates the great from the very good.

5. Dan Lanning - Oregon

Because of how 2024 ended, it's easy to overlook Oregon. All Lanning has done since taking over Oregon in 2022 is lead the Ducks to the fourth-most wins in FBS over that time. He's elevated the program and made Oregon a regular national championship threat.

4. Steve Sarkisian - Texas

Sarkisian missed during his time at USC, but has launched the Texas program since 2021. The Longhorns have made the national semi-finals the last two seasons and look primed for another deep run this fall.

3. Dabo Swinney - Clemson

It wasn't long ago that the talk was about how the game had passed Dabo Swinney by and Clemson could no longer compete at the highest level. Yeah, think again. Dabo might have hit a speed bump for a couple of years but Clemson remains a College Football Playoff and championship threat.

2. Ryan Day - Ohio State

Ryan Day doesn't lose games he's not supposed to (that aren't to Michigan, anyway) and is fresh off a national championship. Ohio State isn't going away anytime soon, as its gone 67-10 since he took over in 2019.

1. Kirby Smart - Georgia

The current standard in college football remains in Athens, Georgia, where Smart has the Bulldogs annually reloading and never rebuilding. Add two recent national championships to his name and you have the resume of the best coach in the game today - even if he was outcoached by Freeman in last season's Sugar Bowl.