The Penn State Nittany Lions have the best head-coaching vacancy in college football and their coaching vacancy has already been linked to the likes of Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin and Matt Rhule. While it’s early in the Nittany Lions coaching search, there’s reportedly another marquee coach on the program’s radar.
According to On3‘s Pete Nakos, Penn State will be taking big swings at head coach and that includes pursuing Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman.
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Freeman, age 39, has quickly emerges as one of the best coaches in college football. In replacing Brian Kelly, Freeman has helped Notre Dame reach the national championship and he’s posted a better winning percentage (.755) than Kelly did with the Fighting Irish (.739).
It’s worth noting that Freeman has also been on the head-coaching radar for NFL teams, who view him as an up-and-comer with a defensive mind and leadership style that could excel at the highest level. Given the level of interest from both NFL teams and Penn State, Notre Dame will likely have to sign him to a new deal following the 2025 college football season.
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Why Marcus Freeman is Unlikely to Leave Notre Dame
Originally, the Nittany Lions’ coaching search was tied to Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti. Just a few days later, Indiana signed Cignetti to a new contract that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the nation and will keep him with the program into his 70s.
Notre Dame will be more than willing to get into a bidding war to retain Freeman. Given how important the football program is to the university, that’s a spending spree the Fighting Irish would have a good chance of coming out on top of.
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Even more important are Freeman’s ties to Notre Dame. In 2022, he converted to Catholicism, and he’s never shown any desire to leave the program since being brought on. Given his age, there’s also no need for him to make the jump to the NFL this early in his head-coaching career.
Ultimately, any effort to land Freeman will likely be wasted by Penn State. For the time being, Rhule remains the favorite to become the next Nittany Lions football coach.
