College Football HQ

$54 million college football coach remains candidate for new job despite statement

A from-the-mouth-of-the-coach denial from one top college coach apparently carries little weight in public opinion.
Joe Cox|
Rumors continue to swirl around a top head coach despite a denial of interest in a different job.
Rumors continue to swirl around a top head coach despite a denial of interest in a different job. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

When the topic is the future plans of head coaches, fans have long learned to trust none of what they hear. It wasn't that many years ago that Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban stood at a podium and clearly stated that he would not be the head coach at Alabama. Of course, a few weeks later, Nick Saban was the head coach at Alabama.

Saban was far from unique. Jim Harbaugh called the annual rumors his departure for the NFL "total crap" and then departed Michigan for the NFL. In general fans don't seem to pay much credence to coaching declarations.

The pattern seems to be holding as Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has clearly denied any interest in moving on from his job in South Bend. In fact, he signed a $54 million offseason contract extension. But Yahoo Sports reports that NFL teams have ignored Freeman's statement. "Interested teams still believe there's a chance Freeman makes a move to the NFL," Yahoo shared in an X post.

NFL teams still seeing a chance

The 40-year old Freeman has never coached in the NFL, but has gone 43-12 at Notre Dame. He led the Irish to the national championship game a season ago, only to see Notre Dame be the first team out of the College Football Playoff bracket in 2025. A former linebacker, Freeman was a defensive assistant until he took over the head coaching job at Notre Dame in December 2021 after the departure of Brian Kelly. Freeman had served as defensive coordinator under Kelly in 2021.

Freeman was discussed extensively within media reports as a candidate for the New York Giants job earlier this offseason. Prediction market Kalshi has him at just a 2% chance at that job, with John Harbaugh the current favorite to earn the position. The other current NFL openings are Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tennessee.

Other college-to-NFL coaches

Many of the most recent college to NFL hires have struggled. Matt Rhule went from Temple to the Carolina Panthers and ultimately returned to college football with Nebraska. Urban Meyer had an illustrious college career with Ohio State and Florida, but then floundered with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Kliff Kingsbury managed to parlay a losing college record into an NFL job, where he also amassed a losing record.

Even the legendary Saban struggled in the NFL between successful stints at LSU and Alabama. Jim Harbaugh is one of few coaches to see extensive success at both levels, having coached in the CFP championship game, which he won, and the Super Bowl, which he lost.

Freeman has denied any interest in joining the club, but NFL teams are apparently still hopeful. Will he be on the sideline at Notre Dame or in the NFL in 2026?

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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