{"id":676200,"date":"2026-01-14T09:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/676200\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T09:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:11:13","slug":"another-report-confirms-marcus-freeman-will-remain-at-notre-dame-for-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/676200\/","title":{"rendered":"Another report confirms Marcus Freeman will remain at Notre Dame for 2026 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Marcus Freeman<\/a>\u2018s social media post from Dec. 29 wasn\u2019t concrete enough of evidence of his intent to return as Notre Dame football\u2019s head coach for the 2026 season, perhaps Tuesday\u2019s announcement that Freeman will be available for a press conference on Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST inside Notre Dame Stadium helped solidify that belief.<\/p>\n

If there was any more doubt, ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported Tuesday<\/a> that Freeman \u201cstill is expected to remain at Notre Dame for the 2026 season.\u201d That\u2019s exactly what Freeman\u2019s post on X\/Twitter indicated in late December. <\/p>\n

\u201c2026\u2026 run it back[.] Go Irish\u2618\ufe0f,\u201d Freeman posted.<\/p>\n

Schefter\u2019s report Tuesday came hours after head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers to create the ninth open head coaching position in the NFL as the league enters the divisional round of its playoffs. <\/p>\n

On Sunday, NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport said on \u201cNFL GameDay Morning\u201d every team that covets Freeman had basically ignored Freeman\u2019s previous statement about staying at Notre Dame. Rapoport did not mention which teams he was referencing, but suggested Freeman\u2019s name still loomed large in the NFL coaching carousel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese teams that viewed him highly still believe there is a chance that he comes to the NFL,\u201d Rapoport said. \u201cThey still believe he is a top-tier candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reported details on what agreement Freeman reached with Notre Dame this offseason haven\u2019t been consistent. Sports Illustrated\u2019s Pat Forde reported on Dec. 29<\/a> that Freeman agreed to a restructured contract that extended him through the 2031 season with compensation that puts him in the \u201ctop tier\u201d of college coaches. Blue & Gold was unable to confirm if Freeman\u2019s contract was actually extended beyond the 2030 season, the end date that was in the contract he agreed to in Dec. 2024. <\/p>\n

Rapoport reported Sunday that Freeman\u2019s contract was adjusted but not extended. Perhaps Freeman will provide clarity on those contract details at Wednesday\u2019s press conference. Notre Dame doesn\u2019t have to make his contract public due to its status as a private school.<\/p>\n

Wednesday will be Freeman\u2019s first press conference since the Irish announced their 2026 recruiting class on Dec. 3, the first day of the early signing period. The notice sent by Notre Dame\u2019s athletic department for Wednesday\u2019s press conference said he will \u201cprovide general updates\u201d to reporters.<\/p>\n

Freeman hasn\u2019t made public comments about Notre Dame being left out of the College Football Playoff after being dropped to No. 11 in the final rankings release on Dec. 7. Miami (13-2), who finished one spot ahead of Notre Dame at No. 10 and beat the Irish 27-24 on Aug. 31, will play in Monday\u2019s CFP National Championship Game against No. 1 Indiana (15-0).<\/p>\n

Freeman, who replaced Brian Kelly as Notre Dame\u2019s head coach in Dec. 2021 after Kelly left for an LSU job that he\u2019s since been fired, has compiled a 43-12 record through four-plus seasons leading the Irish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Marcus Freeman\u2018s social media post from Dec. 29 wasn\u2019t concrete enough of evidence of his intent to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,23951],"class_list":["post-676200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-marcus-freeman-04-wayne"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115892681801940256","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}