Notre Dame allowed Marcus Freeman to get midway through his initial six-year deal as the Fighting Irish head coach.
Last December around this same time, the Fighting Irish brass polished off negotiations with Freeman’s agent, Clint Dowdle, and handed Freeman a revamped, back-to-six-year deal that substantially elevated Freeman’s pay.
His original deal, several sources told FootballScoop’s Scott Roussel and this author, was for approximately $42 million. His new deal, those sources shared, elevated Freeman’s annual compensation into the $10 million range — not including performance bonuses.
Which Freeman promptly earned amidst Notre Dame’s captivating run to the 2024 College Football Playoff Championship, where it finished runner-up to Ohio State.
Now, though the Fighting Irish controversially aren’t among this year’s CFP field and are abstaining from a bowl berth, Pete Bevacqua is making clear Notre Dame is prepared to again substantially increase Freeman’s compensation.
The same Bevacqua who negotiated high-leverage deals as an executive at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and also as the chairman of NBC Sports, dispensed with any pretense during a lengthy, 36-minute session Tuesday with media.
Asked if Freeman, already linked to the vacant New York Giants job in the NFL and also having already rebuffed entreaties from both Florida and Penn State, per several sources, in this coaching cycle, might find some option, some challenge too great for Notre Dame to match, Bevacqua swiftly dismissed such a notion.
“I would never say we wouldn’t match anything when it comes to Marcus,” Bevacqua told the room. “Everybody has eyes on Marcus. College has eyes on Marcus. NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus, right? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the next, you know, Leo DiCaprio movie with Martin Scorsese. Marcus is Marcus. All the credit to him. He deserves it.
“He’s the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop. One of the greatest college coaches in the country. People forget how young he is. So I get it, I get it and that’s a compliment to him and his success and the way he represents himself and the way he prepares and who he is and how he talks.”
Like a revivalist preacher, Bevacqua was just warming up.
“One of my main obligations and responsibilities to this university is to make sure Marcus wakes up every day knowing that he is supported and valued by Notre Dame,” Bevacqua, a former walk-on punter with the Fighting Irish, said. “I can say with 100-percent certainty, he feels that way. Notre Dame is totally aligned around the importance of college football for Notre Dame. We’re totally aligned on how he is the perfect coach for Notre Dame.
“It’s tough to say he’s more than the Notre Dame football coach because being the Notre Dame football coach means so much, but he’s more than the Notre Dame football coach. He’s part of this university. He’s part of the fabric of this university. So is Joanna, so are his kids. He’s everywhere. He’s at, as you’ve heard me say before, he’s at soccer games, women’s and men’s basketball games, hockey games, talking to students. He’s an amazing individual and an amazing leader.”
Freeman won numerous national coach of the year honors for Notre Dame’s scintillating, 14-2 run last season in which it reeled off 13 consecutive wins when any single defeat — after a galling home loss to Northern Illinois — would have ended the team’s season.
The Irish under Freeman this year again responded to early-season adversity when they uncorked a 10-game winning streak after an 0-2 start due to losses tat Miami and home against Texas A&M by a combined four points.
Miami got the final spot in the CFP field; Notre Dame was left out of the rankings despite it having been ranked at or inside the top-10 every single week prior to Sunday’s reveal.
Still, Freeman has captivated Irish Nation with his charisma, penchant for supporting all teams on campus — flying to lacrosse national championships, sitting courtside at women’s basketball games, among myriad other endeavors — and winning. Since beginning his career atop the storied Notre Dame program with a 9-5 ledger, Freeman has guided the Irish to a 34-7 mark. He’s won two-straight bowl games and five total postseason contests.
Thus, Notre Dame — which has among the wealthiest endowments of any institution of higher learning in the United States — has said its coffers are wide open.
For the record, and per recent developments as well as the USA Today Coaches’ Salary database, at approximately $10 million Freeman would rank 10th among Football Bowls Subdivision Power Conference coaches. The highest-paid NFL coach, numerous sources have told FootballScoop, is Sean Payton at approximately $20 million per year. Several additional NFL coaches make $15 million or more, per various reports.
Already this cycle, Lane Kiffin — the man who replaced Brian Kelly at LSU who was replaced by Freeman at Notre Dame — has inked a seven-year, $91 million pact that pays him at minimum $13 million per year, pending additional incentives. Kirby Smart is the sport’s highest-paid coach at almost $13.3 million.
“We feel blessed that he’s our coach. I make sure that he knows that he will be where (compensation-wise) he deserves to be,” Bevacqua added. “That is at the top, top, top tier of college football coaches when it comes to compensation every year.
“I view his contract, although a multi-year contract is a living, breathing document that we will revise every year as need be to make sure he’s where he deserves to be. He knows he has that commitment from me and more importantly from the university.”
