Notre Dame football: In first comments in weeks, Marcus Freeman debuts sharpened resolve for the Irish

If the 2025 college football season was a test, it was a precursor for the offseason Marcus Freeman would have.

It’s been nearly two months since Notre Dame’s season ended against Stanford. The Irish players didn’t know it at the time. In the coming weeks, they’d be left out of the College Football Playoff after being in the field of 12 for the entire month of November and as a team decide to opt out of a bowl game.

Forty-seven days after that game against the Cardinal and 41 days since Freeman last spoke in a press conference setting, he spoke for over 40 minutes on Wednesday about the emotions the program, and Freeman himself, has faced since Dec. 7.

‘Thoroughly reviewed and resolved’

One of the most trying moments of the offseason for Freeman came this week.

The South Bend Tribune reported on a police report at the Mishiwaka Police Department that accused Freeman of simple battery. The university came to Freeman’s defense, strongly denying the accusations with a pointed statement. Authorities opted not to charge Freeman earlier this week.

Freeman opened his press conference on Wednesday sharing some words about the allegations.

"My family and I have been dragged through the mud unnecessarily with clickbait headlines," Freeman said as part of his opening statement. "The reality is I behaved in a respectful and professional manner while protecting my family, and that should have been the only headline."

The story became national news, but Freeman was quickly exonerated when video evidence and an investigation concluded no charges were necessary.

"I know I'm a public figure, and I understand the scrutiny that comes with that," he continued. "That scrutiny should not extend to my children or any other child of a public figure." 

"I'm glad this matter has been thoroughly reviewed and resolved out of respect for everyone involved. I won't comment further."

Notre Dame’s resolve

Freeman’s leadership abilities as a young head coach were tested, too.

When the Irish were left out of the CFP, he didn’t have an answer for his young team. In the time since, he’s sharpened the team’s resolve. The Irish can’t leave their CFP candidacy to the opinions of anyone. 

"I may be confused by some of the criteria and the committee's rankings and all those different things, it's our job as we move forward that we leave no doubt," Freeman said. "You often hear me say, keep the pain and those are for moments we need reminders and as humans we often need reminders. But again, our mindset has to be to attack moving forward and to leave no doubt."

Notre Dame’s season was on life support when the Irish fell to 0-2 to start the season following losses to Miami to Texas A&M. Freeman mentioned Wednesday he needed to do a better job of making sure his teams are prepared to begin the season in September.

That 0-2 start still lingers a hefty amount of "what ifs." Especially considering how much better Notre Dame got as the season rolled on and the Irish ended the season with a 10-game winning streak.

The only way Notre Dame ensures it never gets snubbed again is to prove it’s one of the 12 best teams in the country well before any committee debates the Irish’s resume.

"It’s our job as we move forward to make sure we leave no doubt," Freeman said.

The Notre Dame-USC rivalry

There was so much to cover that Freeman was finally asked about the series with USC ending about a half-hour into his press conference.

Freeman offered a grin when asked about it, most likely acknowledging the noise surrounding how the series ended, where a game of "we said, they said" played out publicly with USC head coach Lincoln Riley placing blame at Notre Dame’s feet for the series ending.

Freeman reiterated some of the words he said before that USC used against him, where he noted he’d play "anytime, anywhere."

"I'm a competitive individual, and I want to go and go play anytime, anywhere," Freeman said. "But that same token, it's important that I make decisions, too, that are best for the program." 

This is a scenario where it takes two to tango. USC wanted to move next season’s game from Week 12 in Los Angeles to Week 0, which is a move that would need NCAA approval and would require a game played in Hawaii or a foreign country.

Freeman said he beleives the rivalry between Notre Dame and USC will eventually resume. He also took accountability for the series ending himself, even though he didn’t necessarily need to.

"To move a game that we were pretty sure was going to be Week 12 to Week 0 isn't what's best for our program," Freeman said. "I don't blame them, right? They had to make decisions, we had to make decisions, and so blame me."