Marcus Freeman isn't leaving Notre Dame this season. It's unlikely that Freeman will leave anytime in the near future. That is the hope, at least. However, his recent comments when asked point-blank about rumors that both Penn State and Florida are interested in hiring him for their new openings might not sit well with some.
Speaking on the latest episode of Bussin' With The Boys, Freeman gave a long answer about his being a top candidate for any job offers that come open. While he had a lot of really lovely things to say about the Fighting Irish and how much he loves South Bend, he didn't really slam the door shut the way fans might like.
Notre Dame head coach still emphasizes loyalty, gratitude for program
"I think, probably, as I look at it this year compared to last year, maybe the impulsive thing would be to say, 'Oh, no, I'm not interested.' I got a great job," the Notre Dame football team's head coach started.
"It's impulsive to say I'm not interested," was bad enough. But the "this year compared to last year" should be especially unnerving. It would have been great if the podcast hosts had followed up and asked why it was apparently easier to say that last year. Presumably, Freeman is saying the jobs that are open are more attractive.
That's not great.
However, Freeman did go on to talk about how much he loves Notre Dame and then made it clear he doesn't think he's the only reason the Irish have been as good as they have in his tenure.
"You know, when I do hear a little bit of the noise and I try to control the things I hear, but people know how to text you or say certain things. It's a reminder of the gratitude that I have to have for the position this program's in, for the position I have. Like, that's what I reflect on is that, 'man, First of all, you your name wouldn't be mentioned if your program wasn't doing really good things.' And the reason why we're doing really good things is because everybody in the program."
"It's not one person. Right. I always tell our guys—'outside of this building, they're always going to point the finger at one person when you have success and one person when you have failure. And it's usually the head coach or quarterbacks.' Right. And so I know the reality is it takes us all. It takes every person in this program to have success.
The bottom line is that Marcus Freeman is probably not leaving Notre Dame this winter. But it sounds like if the right offer comes along, he'll have some big decisions to make.