For the last several weeks, Notre Dame football fans have been quietly worrying about Marcus Freeman and whether he might jump to the NFL. On Monday, he put any talk that he was taking the New York Giants or any other pro job to rest with a simple message to Irish fans.
"2026…run it back," Freeman wrote on X. He followed it up with "Go Irish" and a clover emoji. The post was short and incredibly sweet for those worried about losing one of the best coaches in the college game.
Shortly after the tweet, Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde said that sources had told him that the Notre Dame head coach had signed a new contract that would give him "top tier" compensation. This jibes with what AD Pete Bevacqua said earlier this winter about making sure that the school did whatever it could to keep the coach from jumping ship.
How Marcus Freeman set the tone for Notre Dame’s offseason with one statement
In the process, Notre Dame essentially repeated what it did around this time last winter. Last year, the talk was that Freeman might be a target of the Chicago Bears. Even when the Bears went a different route, it was clear the Irish coach was a hot commodity and ND wanted to make sure he understood he was appreciated in South Bend.
Freeman signed a six-year contract last year, and this new revised agreement adds one more year to the end, extending him through 2031. Most importantly, it lets Notre Dame faithful know that their head coach will indeed "run it back," and with a much softer schedule than 2025, it's College Football Playoff or bust.