Report reveals Marcus Freeman's stance on Florida, Penn State jobs

Marcus Freeman has found his name at the center of the head coach rumor mill with more than one prominent job recently opening up, but he has reportedly made his stance on leaving Notre Dame clear.

He is not doing it.

Freeman was immediately mentioned as a potential candidate when Penn State fired James Franklin on Oct. 12. The same was true for Florida after the Gators fired head coach Billy Napier a week later. Freeman is sure to be linked to the LSU job, too, now that Brian Kelly has officially been dismissed.

In his latest mailbag on Monday, Pete Sampson of The Athletic reported that Penn State AD Pat Kraft and Florida AD Scott Stricklin have both reached out to Freeman's representatives. They were both told the 39-year-old coach is not interested.

"Freeman keeps showing up on the lists of possible replacements at big-name schools because those big-name schools really like Freeman," Sampson wrote. "Athletic directors like Pat Kraft (Penn State) and Scott Stricklin (Florida) aren’t doing their jobs if they don’t put in a call to Freeman’s representatives. And both have. Likely more than once until they get 'no' for an answer ... which they both have."

Marcus Freeman has had tremendous success

Freeman took over for Kelly after Kelly left for the LSU job at the end of the 2021 season. He has gone 38-11, not including a loss in the Fiesta Bowl after Kelly left before Notre Dame's bowl game in 2021. Freeman led the Fighting Irish to the CFP national championship last season, where they lost, 34-23, to Ohio State.

It is hardly a surprise that top programs covet Freeman, but he already has one of the most coveted jobs in the country. He was mentioned as a head coach candidate for the Chicago Bears last year, and he had no interest in leaving for the NFL.

Freeman played in college at Ohio State. Sampson speculates that the Ohio State job is probably the only one that would make Freeman think about leaving Notre Dame, and Ryan Day is not going anywhere. While Freeman might use the interest from other schools as leverage to get a new deal from Notre Dame, it does not sound like there is a real risk of him jumping ship in the near future.