Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Marcus Freeman News Emerges on Friday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Parker Johnson | Last updated Jan 16, 2026 12:33 PM ET

One year after leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, head coach Marcus Freeman is on the outside looking in. After going 10-2 this season, Notre Dame was the first team out of the 12-team CFP bracket, with a 27-24 Week 1 loss to the Miami Hurricanes proving to be the decisive data point for the committee.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Hurricanes are headed to the CFP title game to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Notre Dame fans have had to watch Miami's playoff run battling thoughts of "this could have been us" while the Fighting Irish opted out of a bowl game. Freeman's name made headlines via the NFL coaching carousel and a police report that did not lead to any charges.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman speaks during a press conference prior to last year's College Football Playoff National Championship game.Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Freeman will return to Notre Dame in 2026 with a mission to "leave no doubt" about the Irish's CFP candidacy. But first, he will return to this year's national championship game in a new role with ESPN. On Friday, Freeman was announced as a guest analyst for ESPN's final "College GameDay" show of the season.

"Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will be joining GameDay as a guest analyst for the national championship," the show announced on social media.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will be joining GameDay as a guest analyst for the national championship pic.twitter.com/5pAILNXQwa
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 16, 2026

Freeman will join the regular "College GameDay" cast, which includes host Rece Davis and analystsKirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban.

ESPN reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims, college football insider Pete Thameland betting analyst "Stanford Steve" Coughlin will also be part of the championship edition of "College GameDay," which will begin at 5 p.m. ET Monday, live from Hard Rock Stadium.

Freeman's addition is part of an all-out effort by ESPN to cover the CFP National Championship game, which includes more than 24 hours of live studio programming from Friday to Tuesday in Miami. The game will be televised by ESPN and streamed on the ESPN app.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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