Not that long ago, Marcus Freeman bled scarlet and gray.
A linebacker for Ohio State from 2004-08, Freeman appeared in 51 games with 37 starts. He helped the Buckeyes reach the national title game twice and was part of four straight Big Ten championships. When he declared for the NFL Draft in 2009, he ranked 19th in program history with 268 tackles (140 solo).
So when Freeman steps on the sideline ahead of the national championship game Monday night, the Notre Dame coach might feel a bit conflicted. After all, he’s trying to win the biggest trophy in college athletics — and stop his beloved alma mater from doing the same.
Freeman, asked this week about facing the Buckeyes, quickly shot down the notion that his heart lies anywhere but South Bend.
“This has nothing to do with the past and where I went to school,” he said. “This is about this opportunity that lies right ahead of us.”
Freeman, 39, is widely regarded as one of the fastest rising coaches in college football. He has the historic program on the verge of their first championship since 1988 in just his fourth season and now has NFL franchises calling.
But his success at Notre Dame is not a surprise to former Buckeye teammates, who knew from the moment he stepped foot on campus that his work ethic and IQ would take him far.
Antonio Smith, an Ohio State cornerback who played from 2003-06, called Freeman “a great competitor” and a “team guy.”
“Playing the linebacker position, he’s a guy that you can count on, a guy that you can trust to do their job and someone that obviously you wanted to go into battle with week in and week out,” Smith said. “He not only brought that energy and attitude to the game, but also just the way he went about his day to day in practice. He’s one of those guys that you wanted to line up with.”
Freeman grew up about an hour outside Columbus and starred at Wayne High School. After playing sparingly at Ohio State as a freshman and redshirting as a sophomore following a knee injury sustained in the first game of the regular season, he really made his presence known on the 2006 team that reached the national championship under coach Jim Tressel.
That season he totaled 71 tackles over 13 games — 11 starts — with six pass breakups and two interceptions. He also helped fill a leadership void left by senior linebackers A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegal, who all had departed for the NFL the previous year.
Freeman’s style wasn’t about big speeches before games or publicly calling out others. He chose to show it on the field.
“He definitely got his points across but I don’t remember him being an overly vocal guy,” Anderson Russell, an Ohio State safety from 2005-09, said. “He’s just one of those guys that you can depend on, and that’s what you need the most when the bullets are flying out there on the field. He’s somebody I know I can count on to get the job done and be where he’s supposed to be and make the right calls.”
Brandon Mitchell, an Ohio State defensive back from 2002-06, echoed Russell’s sentiment. He said Freeman preferred to help teammates on the sideline or in the locker room after practice.
“He would come up one on one, sitting next to you in your locker and say, ‘What can we do to figure this out?’” Mitchell recalled. “‘We seem to be having this issue’ or ‘I saw this thing on film’ or ‘We can’t seem to get this blitz right. How can we do it?’ So much more of a personable one to one, as opposed to a ‘get up in front of the group rah-rah leader.’”
Ohio State was the No. 1 team in the country from the start of the 2006 season and won its first 12 games behind star quarterback Troy Smith. That season he threw for 2,542 yards and 30 touchdowns en route to the Heisman Trophy.
Freeman and Mitchell were leaders on the defensive side and were responsible for making calls at the line of scrimmage based on what the offense gave them.
“He was one of the younger guys on the team, but the moment never got too big,” Mitchell said. “He was always ready to play. And as a first-year starter, having the responsibilities of making those checks and doing all those things, that’s a lot.”
The Buckeyes’ undefeated record came to an end against Florida in the national title game, and one year later faced the same result: a defeat in the final, this time to LSU. Though Freeman came up just short of winning the BCS Championship in both his junior and senior years, he cemented himself as a key contributor to one of the best runs in program history.
Despite being selected in the fifth round of the 2009 draft by the Chicago Bears, Freeman was waived by the team just prior to the season. He then joined the Houston Texans’ practice squad but could not gain consistent playing time and never appeared in a regular season game.
In May 2010, he was forced to retire due to an enlarged heart condition.
But just because he wasn’t able to play did not mean he would give up on the game he loved. Freeman accepted a position as a graduate assistant at Ohio State and transitioned from there to linebackers coach at Kent State. He was with the Golden Flashes in 2011 and 2012, making $42,000 per year, according to USA Today.
Mitchell visited Freeman at Kent State and recalls being blown away by his work ethic despite the low salary.
“I remember going, ‘Dude, you’re literally one of the worst paid coaches in America, and you’re putting in full effort for everything.’”
That determination helped him steadily rise in the coaching ranks. He was linebackers coach at Purdue, defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and defensive coordinator at Notre Dame before being promoted to the head-coaching role when Brian Kelly left for LSU in 2021.
Just a few short years later, the Fighting Irish are now in the national title game.
Russell isn’t surprised in the least. When asked what one attribute has led to this success, he points to Freeman always having a calm demeanor no matter the situation.
“I never saw him lose his cool on the field or even on the sidelines,” he said. “Sometimes you’ll be OK on the field, but then when we come off on the sideline, guys are angry, throwing helmets or frustrated. He was never a guy that got caught up in that. He always kept his cool and kept a level head for playing. That’s one of the things that has translated the best for him as a coach.”
Notre Dame’s task won’t be easy. Ohio State is the hottest team in the College Football Playoff, outsourcing opponents 111-52 over three games. The Buckeyes, led by veteran quarterback Will Howard, have some of the most dangerous weapons in college football in receivers Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and running back TreVeyon Henderson. They also boast the No. 1 defense in the country, allowing just 12.2 points per game.
The Fighting Irish aren’t too shabby on that side of the ball either, ranking No. 2 in the country with 14.3 points allowed each game. Their 37 points per game on offense ranks third overall, as well.
Mitchell said the makeup of Notre Dame reminds him a lot of the Tressel-led teams he and Freeman competed on together.
“The way he has his team set up, it has Jim Tressel imprints all over it. That team looks like the teams he played on,” he said. “A good defensive line, great special teams, a quarterback who can be opportunistic with his legs. That team looks very familiar to me. It’s like an early 2000s Ohio State football team where you don’t take too many shots on the outside, but you got one or two game breakers.”
Russell doesn’t think Freeman facing his alma mater will make a big difference in the national title game. If past experience as a player is any indication. he’ll have Notre Dame ready no matter the opponent.
“It’s always a part of you that made you who you are today and brought you to this point as part of your journey. But right now, it’s about this game that’s right in front of them,” Russell said. “They’re going to be ready to go to war, and that’s a result of him being a great coach and blocking out all distractions.”
Adds Smith: “He’s done an amazing job, so we’re super proud of him. We’re glad to see one of our own be able to climb those ranks and represent in a great fashion at a great historic program like Notre Dame. I wish him all the best — outside of Monday.”