Conditions for leaving

by beattherush, Chicago, Thursday, July 23, 2026, 06:16 (1 day, 1 hours, 43 min. ago) @ omahadomer
edited by beattherush, Thursday, July 23, 2026, 06:20

Good point about the conditions around Marcus. That's an underrated influence on his departure. It's what drove Saban, and other long-time coaches, out of football.

I've thought for a while that the odds of Marcus leaving are much lower than the press reports. Everything we know about the man would suggest college is a better fit. He's a great recruiter. He actively enjoys the mentoring of young men. He values family and stability for his own family. And his strengths are less Xs and Os and more Jimmies and Joes. None of that matters in the NFL. What does he bring to the NFL? Motivation, and some developing skills in building an organization. In the NFL a GM does the latter, and the former is a lot different with paid professionals in a constrained transfer system.

One of the podcasts I listen to had a good insight as well: there are NFL jobs, and NFL jobs. Sure, Freeman could probably get a second-tier job like the Jets or Browns or Raiders. But the NFL organizations that are worth leaving ND for are precisely the ones who don't have a lot of coaching vacancies and don't need to take a chance on a college coach. Seattle or Green Bay or LA aren't calling anytime soon. Even the Steelers, whose management might be sliding a bit, expressed "interest" but that's far from a sure thing. There's also the Rooney rule to consider, and I doubt Marcus wants any part of that mess - the NFL needs to reconsider its approach on how to build much-needed diversity in the workforce; what they're doing isn't working and is demeaning to minority candidates. (ESPN just did a long investigation piece on it; it's worth reading).

Consider Freeman's mentor pool as well. I'm sure Tressel has hooked Freeman up with Meyer. I'm sure Freeman's talked with Saban. Those guys are good examples of how college success can be derailed by the NFL.

When Freeman says "the grass is always greener, I get it, I want to stay", I take him at face value.

Of course, he may just get tired. ND's average tenure for NC coaches has been what, about ten years? Rockne died in the job, Leahy ran out of steam around ten, Parseghian the same. Devine and Holtz were forced out. Presumably we've learned our lesson on that. But five years from now, we'll see. Freeman's young though, and has shown every chance of being able to build an organization that grows over time where he can effectively delegate. That should help.

So what changes the game where Freeman opts out?

The single greatest thing I can see is if the mentoring component goes away... and that's by the NCAA becoming even more of a revolving door where players don't stick around long enough to build relationships and the opportunity for mentoring and cultural development.

Right now, that's holding up well at the top end (though it's a disaster for lower-level programs). Some good stats on it here: https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-transfer-portal-2026-r...

The other kinds of shifts that may force Freeman out are not really knowable. Some kind of superleague/collective bargaining where the players become only loosely moored to their educational institution sponsors might do it. I've thought for a while that the end game will be "affiliated teams" - where the universities do not directly employ players, but they sponsor teams that report up to a league structure outside the individual schools. Sort of like baseball's AA/AAA but where the teams are all independent of NFL teams, probably with relegation and promotion. But what will that look like? Who the hell knows.

I'm just happy we have the man and proud that he's our coach and to have some association with him through ND. And I look forward to a few years yet where that's the case.