Marcus Freeman doesn’t want the National Championship game to be about him.
The current Notre Dame football head coach and former Ohio State linebacker will receive plenty more questions about his connections to the two programs vying for the College Football Playoff title on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN). That doesn’t mean he’s going to entertain them.
When Freeman was asked about a matchup between seventh-seeded Notre Dame (14-1) and eighth-seeded Ohio State (13-2) feeling like a full-circle moment, he first directed his answer as if the question had anything to do with Notre Dame suffering its first loss of the season in Week 2 against Northern Illinois before winning 13 consecutive games since then.
"In terms of this season? Yeah, from where we started with the start of [Texas] A&M and the loss to Northern Illinois to now you're saying we're getting ready to play for the National Championship, yeah, it's full circle,” Freeman said. “This has nothing to do with the past and where I went to school. This is about this opportunity that lies right ahead of us."
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No matter how much Freeman would rather his team be in the spotlight, the attention on the 39-year-old coach isn’t going anywhere. Not long after Freeman’s press conference Sunday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the NFL’s Chicago Bears want to interview Freeman for their opening at head coach. Freeman was asked in November about his name being mentioned as a candidate for NFL jobs.
“Listen, it takes us all to achieve the success that we aspire to have,” Freeman said Nov. 21. “And so that, to me your name is floating out there is a reflection of how this program is playing and performing every day and on Saturdays.
“As for me, I try not to waste time thinking about an uncertain future. I tell our players all the time like your future is uncertain. So, I try not to waste time thinking about things that aren't in the moment. So, I haven't spent any time really thinking about what the future will provide.
“Do I ever want to coach in the NFL? I have no clue. I don't even know what that entails really right now, because I've never done it.”
Much has been made about Freeman becoming both the first Black and Asian head coach to led a team to a national championship game in college football. He’s repeatedly deferred the credit to others, including the men who hired him, former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick and former Notre Dame president John I. Jenkins.
"I was given an opportunity by our former athletic director Jack Swarbrick and Father John Jenkins,” Freeman said. “They made the decision to give me an opportunity. What I continue to hope is that people get opportunities based off their actions and not the color of their skin. That doesn't point to just one group of people, but we want to make sure we continue to give the right people opportunities to lead our young people, and I believe in that.
"If me being a Black and Asian head coach in the college football National Championship gives others that opportunity, that's awesome. I've always said this: I don't want this to be about me. I want this to be about others and about others getting an opportunity and our team.”
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The National Championship game will be played on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which recognizes the work done by one of the Black civil rights leaders in the 1950s and ‘60s.
"As far as playing in the National Championship game on MLK Day, to me the attention should be on MLK Day and what he did for our country and the progress he made for equal rights and progress for all people, the courage he had as an individual to stand for what he believes in,” Freeman said. “That was with his words and his actions. Martin Luther King Day is about celebrating that man and the impacts he's made on our country."
Circling back to the football field, Freeman isn’t shying away from what a win on Jan. 20 would do for Notre Dame’s program, the folks who comprise it and those who support it. Notre Dame’s been chasing a national championship in college football since last winning one upon the conclusion of the 1988 season. The Irish are one win away from ending that drought.
"Oh, it would be something special,” Freeman said. “Obviously, this place hasn't won a National Championship since 1988, and every year the aspirations are to win a National Championship. That's why all these players choose to come to Notre Dame — one of the reasons — is to be a part of a program that can win a National Championship.
"I think it's something that they'll be able to say for the rest of their lives is they were part of a National Championship football team. There's a lot of work that goes into getting to that outcome, and that's what we've got to focus on, but it would be special for this university and for these players that have poured so much work into getting the results that we have."
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