The 2025 season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has concluded. The Irish were snubbed from the final selection of the College Football Playoff and subsequently decided not to play in a bowl game.
That move to not play in a bowl game has obviously upset many across the college football landscape, calling out the Irish for “pouting” about not making the 12-team playoff. Speaking to Barstool’s Dave Portnoy, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua explained the Irish’s decision to opt out of the bowl game.
“Notre Dame and Marcus (Freeman) put a ton of emphasis on the captains of our team. He really leaned on those guys, that’s what’s going on, what’s the feeling of the team,” Bevacqua said. “So, the first thing he did was talk to each one of them, had a series of conversations.
“The unanimous consensus from the captains was that this was a special team, an unbelievably close team and they didn’t want to go out there and play in a bowl without the Jeremiyah Love’s and Jadarian Price’s.”
While that decision will be scrutinized over the rest of the season and possibly much longer, attention now turns toward Freeman, who is once again rumored to be hearing from multiple NFL teams with open jobs.
NFL Interest in Marcus Freeman Resurfaces
Marcus Freeman became a hot name among NFL coaching circles after the Fighting Irish’s near-magical season last year. Notre Dame overcame a devastating 16-14 loss at home to Northern Illinois to rattle off 13 straight wins before losing to Ohio State in the national championship.
Freeman turned down all offers then, hoping to lead Notre Dame back to the playoff this season. But with the program’s year ending much earlier than expected, Freeman is bound to be getting calls again. And who’s to say he won’t listen after the way the CFP committee handled Notre Dame’s ranking in the final selection?
“Good for Notre Dame declining the bowl invitation,” USA Today’s Art Stapleton wrote. “More time for Marcus Freeman to prepare for his interview with the Giants … and for the Giants to find that speculated $50 million in the couch cushions for the buyout.”
Should Freeman decide to leave the Irish, his buyout is said to be significant, though the exact figure isn’t public record. USA Today lists him as the 26th-highest-paid coach annually, earning $7.4 million.
Urban Meyer Weighs In on Marcus Freeman’s Future
Former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer appeared on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on December 8 and was asked what he would do if he were Marcus Freeman.
“Marcus is my friend, he’s not asked me but I would say you stay in college, 100 percent,” Meyer said. “You have controllable in college. As a head coach in the NFL … there’s just so much uncontrollable that you don’t have, whether it’s the GM … you have an owner, you have so many things. In college, it’s you.”
Meyer would certainly know the difference. In 2021, he attempted to make the leap to the NFL as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He didn’t last a full season, fired after 13 games with a 2-11 record.
How Freeman, 39, would fare in the NFL is impossible to know. His youth is something NFL teams value, as is his early success in college. Still, Meyer’s warning about the lack of control in the NFL compared to college may not be far off.
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