{"id":454867,"date":"2026-02-07T17:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454867\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:48:16","slug":"54-million-head-coach-predicted-to-leave-major-college-football-program-for-nfl-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454867\/","title":{"rendered":"$54 million head coach predicted to leave major college football program for NFL job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame finished the 2025 regular season 10\u20132 after opening 0\u20132 and then winning 10 straight, yet the Irish were controversially left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

The CFP committee selected Miami over Notre Dame for an at-large spot, prompting public frustration from the program\u2019s leadership and an institutional decision to opt out of postseason play for the year.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua has since been vocal about the program\u2019s treatment and publicly reaffirmed his support for head coach Marcus Freeman as the fallout unfolded.<\/p>\n

Both before and after the CFP decision, reports surfaced linking Freeman to NFL franchises exploring head-coaching changes, most notably the New York Giants, who fired Brian Daboll on November 10 following a 2\u20138 start.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0Justin Williams recently offered a bold prediction<\/a>: Freeman would lead Notre Dame to a national championship in 2026, then depart for an NFL head-coaching job.<\/p>\n

\"Notre<\/p>\n

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his players after winning a NCAA football game 49-10 against Navy at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB\/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Freeman became Notre Dame\u2019s head coach in December 2021 after a rapid rise through the college coaching ranks. A former All-Big Ten linebacker at Ohio State from 2004 to 2008, Freeman transitioned into coaching after a brief NFL career, beginning as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2010 before stops at Kent State, Purdue, and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

Now through five seasons at Notre Dame, Freeman owns a 43\u201312 overall record (.782 winning percentage) with three straight double-digit win seasons, highlighted by a run to the College Football Playoff national championship game in the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

The Irish have reached a bowl game every year under Freeman, winning all but one, and he has been widely credited for elevating recruiting, sustaining elite defensive play, and building a strong program culture.<\/p>\n

As a result, Notre Dame has moved aggressively to retain him. Freeman signed a new six-year contract extension in December 2024, and sources later reported<\/a> an enhanced, restructured deal in December 2025 that pushed his total compensation to $54 million through 2031, placing him firmly among the highest-paid coaches in college football.<\/p>\n

Freeman is a young, high-profile coach with recent national title and double-digit win credentials; tie that in with Notre Dame’s visibility, and it’s easy to see why he has become a logical candidate for NFL openings.<\/p>\n

However, while the scenario Williams outlined is within the realm of possibility, Notre Dame has taken concrete contract and retention steps that make an immediate post-title exit less automatic.<\/p>\n

Read More at College Football HQ$1.9 million prospect predicted to be \u2018instant impact\u2019 college football player<\/a>College football\u2019s QB market predicted to reach $10 million per season<\/a>No. 1 QB prospect expected to make $2 million in first college football season<\/a>$91 million head coach predicted to leave SEC program for expected Alabama job<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Notre Dame finished the 2025 regular season 10\u20132 after opening 0\u20132 and then winning 10 straight, yet the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-454867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}