Marcus Freeman has a history with Ohio State. What we know about the Notre Dame coach

colin gay, columbus dispatch

Fri, Sep 22, 2023, 4:34 PM·4 min read

The saga between Marcus Freeman and Ohio State will continue Saturday night in South Bend.

After he began his head coaching career at Notre Dame with a loss to Ohio State in Columbus, Freeman, a former Ohio State linebacker will get another shot at beating the Buckeyes at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.

"We got two good teams. That's the focus," Freeman said Thursday. "It's not about where I was or where I went to school or anybody else. It's about preparing your team to face a really good Ohio State team. I'm sure, on the other hand, Ohio State has the same mentality. That's where the focus should be and that's where I think it will stay."

Here's what you need to know about Freeman's relationship with Ohio State.

Marcus Freeman chose Ohio State over Notre Dame in high school

Freeman has his choice of schools in the 2004 recruiting class.

According to 247Sports, Freeman was the No. 66 player and No. 5 inside linebacker in the country out of Wayne High School in Dayton.

Holding offers from schools such as Florida, Miami, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Notre Dame, Freeman joined Ohio State's recruiting class, playing five years for the Buckeyes from 2004-08.

After being hired as the Fighting Irish head coach in December 2021, Freeman said he regressed his decision to sign with Ohio State over Notre Dame.

"I just thank God that I didn’t make the wrong decision twice," he wrote.

Marcus Freeman played for two national championships with Ohio State

(NCL_OSUFOOTBALL10_LAURON 9AUG07) Ohio State football players James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman, 1, , right, pose for Laurinaitis' father, Joe, for the 2007-08 team photo during picture day at the Ohio Stadium, August 9, 2007. (Dispatch photo by Neal C. Lauron)

Freeman's Ohio State career included two chances at a national championship.

Both of Freeman's BCS National Championship Game appearances ended in losses, as the Buckeyes fell to Florida to end the 2006 season and LSU to end 2007.

In 51 games for the Buckeyes, Freeman had 268 tackles, 21.5 tackles-for-loss and six sacks, finishing as a second-team All-Big Ten member in 2008.

Freeman helped Ohio State to four conference titles and three BCS bowls.

Freeman was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2009 NFL draft, spending time with the Bears, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans before ending his career due to a medical condition.

Marcus Freeman started his coaching career at Ohio State

Sep 3, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day shakes hands with Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman following the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports

Freeman's coaching career started in Columbus, joining Jim Tressel's coaching staff in 2010 as a graduate assistant, helping lead the Buckeyes to a Sugar Bowl win against Arkansas.

From Ohio State, Freeman coached linebackers at Kent State and Purdue before becoming the Boilermakers' co-defensive coordinator in 2016. Freeman went on to become the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Cincinnati from 2017-20 before joining Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame in 2021 as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Freeman was the Fighting Irish's interim head coach in their Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State before becoming the team's permanent head coach in 2022.

Heading into his first trip to Ohio Stadium as Notre Dame's head coach in 2022, Freeman said he as "emotionless" about his return to Columbus.

"We get to play a great team," Freeman said. "We get to play in a hostile environment. To me, that's where the emotions lie.

Marcus Freeman has been critical of Ohio State with Notre Dame

Nov 26, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts in the first half against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Before Notre Dame's season opener against Ohio State in 2022, Freeman was quoted as dismissing Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati academics, telling CBS Sports, "You don't go to class (at places like that)," which he later walked back publicly and told former Ohio State teammates Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel on 97.1 The Fan that he was misquoted.

"I wanted to set the record straight in that I was misquoted by Dennis Dodd in this article, and key words and context were missing from the quote that upset a lot of people that I care about," Freeman said. "I'm very proud of my two degrees from Ohio State. I would never discredit the quality of education those degrees represented."

2024 4-star linebacker and Notre Dame commit Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, in an interview with Rivals, said Freeman has fixated his recruiting pitch on Notre Dame's academics over Ohio State.

“The major thing (Freeman) touched on was how much Notre Dame offers off the field and the difference between an Ohio State degree and a Notre Dame degree," Viliamu-Asa said according to Rivals.com. "It was important for me and my mom to see it because my mom is big on academics so what he touched on was school, the connections and what a Notre Dame degree means after football.”