Marcus Freeman is getting in on the fun in Miami ahead of Monday’s national title game. The Notre Dame head coach will be joining ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast as a guest analyst for the showdown between Indiana and Miami.
The show made the reveal on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday: “Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will be joining GameDay as a guest analyst for the national championship.”
It’s a solid get for College GameDay. Freeman will certainly be able to provide plenty of insight on both squads, as Notre Dame played Indiana during last season’s iteration of the CFP, and they faced Miami in Week 1 of the regular season, as well.
Additionally, Notre Dame was part of the first-ever national title game following a 12-team CFP last year. That’s an experience only he and Ohio State’s Ryan Day know how to navigate, and should lead to some fascinating takes.
It all goes down this coming Monday between Indiana and Miami. Bringing Freeman on should only add to ESPN’s impressive coverage of the final college football game of the season, as they’re pulling out all the stops.
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Meanwhile, Freeman is staying at Notre Dame for the 2026 season despite rumors that several NFL franchises had interest in luring him away. Freeman’s likely return was reported Tuesday by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and then essentially confirmed by the coach himself in a press conference on Wednesday.
Standing in front of reporters, Freeman answered multiple questions regarding his future in South Bend. He assured Fighting Irish fans that he was still their coach despite the noise from the outside, and his focus remains on getting the team back to competing for a College Football Playoff spot next season.
“I’m the head coach at Notre Dame,” Freeman said. “I’ve said this before, but recognition, individual success, NFL interest, those are all reflections of team success and where this football program is. I’ve used some of the interest from the NFL to personally gain wisdom from maybe some of the GMs or the front office executives that you get a chance to talk to about your players, but also about what they view as a successful coach. Maybe it’s an NFL coach, but what are some of the things they’ve seen that make a coach successful in their organization?
“So I utilize these opportunities through conversations to be the best coach I can be of the Notre Dame football program. Again, that’s where my mindset is and I don’t control the noise, but I know the noise that’s in my head and where my focus is.”
— On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.