There are currently two NFL head coaching vacancies.
But there will surely be several more after the regular season concludes in January.
Could a college coach be on the radar for a team in 2026?
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua believes his program’s head coach, Marcus Freeman, is on the radar for NFL teams. He has reason to, as Freeman is the current betting favorite to land the Giants’ job.
“Everybody has eyes on Marcus,” Bevacqua said this week, via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. “College has eyes on Marcus, NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus.
“He’s the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop, one of the greatest college coaches in the country.”
Freeman, 39, has been Notre Dame’s head coach since Brian Kelly departed the program for LSU late in 2021. He had just been hired earlier in the year as the team’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach after spending 2017-2020 as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.
He’s accumulated a 43-12 record with the program, coaching the Fighting Irish to the CFP National Championship Game to cap the 2024 season. Notre Dame lost to Freeman’s Alma Mater, Ohio State, where he’d played linebacker from 2004-2008.
While Freeman has never coached at the NFL level, he briefly spent time with the Bears, Bills, and Texans before retiring due to a medical condition.
But with NFL teams potentially circling South Bend, Bevacqua wants to ensure Freeman doesn’t feel tempted to leave the job he has by making sure the coach feels valued.
“I can say with 100 percent certainty he feels that way, and Notre Dame is totally aligned around the importance of college football for Notre Dame,” Bevacqua said. “I make sure that he knows that he will be where he deserves to be, and that is at the top, top, top tier of college football coaches when it comes to compensation every year.”
We’ll see if there’s more smoke around Freeman as a potential candidate when the NFL’s regular season ends in January.
