Prominent CFB analyst ranks Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman against his peers, and has some familiar faces already in the rear-view
The most interesting exercise every college football offseason is the early top 25 polls, player, and coaching rankings. On3 college football analyst Ari Wasserman released his top 25 coaching rankings, doing his best to get a general understanding of the hierarchy of head coaches in the country. On that list, Notre Dame head coach Marcus […]
The most interesting exercise every college football offseason is the early top 25 polls, player, and coaching rankings. On3 college football analyst Ari Wasserman released his top 25 coaching rankings, doing his best to get a general understanding of the hierarchy of head coaches in the country.
On that list, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman came in at No. 5 on that list. He trailed just Kirby Smart (Georgia), Ryan Day (Ohio State), Dan Lanning (Oregon) and Steve Sarkisian (Texas). That’s pretty impressive considering that Coach Freeman just finished up his third season in South Bend.
As Wasserman indicated in this piece, these exercises aren’t easy. Trying to figure out the proper formula to create these rankings is very subjective. He made sure to note that to begin the piece.
"Trying to rank the Top 25 coaches in college football is a crazy undertaking that has plenty of subjectivity," Wasserman said. "There’s no way to get everyone to agree because we all value different things as it pertains to what makes a coach great."
Wasserman was very complimentary of Coach Freeman, and his work with the Fighting Irish so far. He was admittedly hesitant on just how high this Notre Dame program can trend. His perspective has changed a good bit.
5. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
There aren’t many other places who expect to compete for national titles who have more natural limitations for talent acquisition than Notre Dame. Still, Freeman replaced Brian Kelly and elevated the talent on the roster while making the Irish a tougher out than they’ve been in recent memory. Notre Dame didn’t just capture its first big win in the postseason in decades, it grabbed a few on the way to the national title game. The Irish are never going to be a “super team,” but teams are never going to be as deep as they’ve been in the past. Notre Dame has staying power at the top because Freeman brought it there. There were some — cough, me — who would have said that was impossible a few years ago.
One interesting thing to note is who the Fighting Irish coach is ahead of. Coach Freeman sits one spot ahead of Dabo Swinney (Clemson), a coach who has won two national championships in his career. At No. 16, you will see LSU head coach Brian Kelly. Former New England Patriots legend Bill Belichick (UNC) comes in at No. 21, while Lincoln Riley (USC) is at No. 22.
Seeing Coach Kelly so far down that list is a thing of beauty. It is also interesting to see Coach Riley behind a coach who has yet to coach a single game on the college level. How things have changed in just one year.
One major takeaway from this list: It’s a great time to be a Notre Dame fan. Coach Freeman has revived expectations for this Irish program, and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
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