Notre Dame will do what it takes to keep Marcus Freeman.
Fighting Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua indicated this week that the school is hoping to retain Freeman as interest from inside and outside college football surrounds the star head coach.
“Everybody has eyes on Marcus,” Bevacqua told reporters this week. “College has eyes on Marcus; NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus. … He’s the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop, one of the greatest college coaches in the country.”
Freeman, 39, has gone 43-12 in four-plus seasons as Notre Dame’s head coach, leading the Fighting Irish to the national championship game last season.
Bevacqua said he and the school are doing everything in their power to ensure Freeman feels “valued” in South Bend.
“I can say with 100 percent certainty he feels that way, and Notre Dame is totally aligned around the importance of college football for Notre Dame,” Bevacqua said. “… I make sure that he knows that he will be where he deserves to be, and that is at the top, top, top tier of college football coaches when it comes to compensation every year.”
With his success at Notre Dame, Freeman’s name has been floated as a possible future NFL head coach, including for the Giants’ current opening.
In a sit-down with The Post earlier this month, Freeman said he was humbled to be in the conversation for the Giants job.
“The gratitude you have, for one, even being mentioned by an organization like that. I got a lot of respect for all NFL teams, but the history of the Giants is tremendous,” Freeman said. “But it’s gratitude for me, it reminds me of the honor that I have to be in the position I have. And I’ve said that before. I use that to remind myself of the gratitude that I have for this position because you wouldn’t have said that statement if I didn’t have this job and we weren’t having success.”
Freeman was also reportedly pursued by Penn State after the school fired James Franklin in October.
The Fighting Irish were controversially snubbed from the College Football Playoff earlier this week, losing out to fellow three-loss Alabama and two-loss Miami. Notre Dame then declined bowl invitations after not being included in the 12-team CFP field.
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