After an abrupt end to the 2025 season and a winter filled with headlines about coach Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame program, the Fighting Irish have a theme for 2026: Leave no doubt.
Almost a year after playing for a national title and 47 days after Notre Dame's last game, Freeman outlined the team's mantra as it fully turns the page for 2026. Despite 10 consecutive double-digit wins to end the 2025 season, Notre Dame was snubbed from the College Football Playoff and subsequently opted out of a Pop-Tarts Bowl invitation.
Since then, athletic director Pete Bevacqua has sparred with the ACC over social media posts, Notre Dame and USC suspended their longstanding rivalry series, Freeman's name has frequently surfaced for NFL coach openings and an incident involving Freeman at his son's wrestling match led to no charges being filed against the Notre Dame coach.
Freeman called the CFB snub "obviously disappointing" on Wednesday, but not something to dwell upon. The Irish entered the final rankings at No. 10 but fell a spot as Miami, which beat Notre Dame in the season opener, was included in the field. Miami will face Indiana next Monday in the national championship game.
"As I reminded the group on our team meeting on Sunday, it's our responsibility to make sure we leave no doubt, and moving forward, we can't blame it on somebody else," Freeman said. "Although we may be, I may be confused, about some of the criteria and [CFP] committee's rankings and all those different things, it's our job as we move forward to make sure we leave no doubt."
Freeman eliminated doubt, at least for now, about his career plans after being mentioned as an NFL coaching candidate, even after sources told ESPN that he received an enhanced contract from Notre Dame, and posted about his return on social media last month. Freeman, who turned 40 on Sunday, is 43-12 in four seasons as Notre Dame's coach.
"I'm the head coach at Notre Dame," he said. "Individual success, NFL interest, those are all a reflection of team success and where this program is. ... I don't control the noise, but I know the noise that's in my head and where my focus is."
Freeman added that he has used NFL interest to meet with general managers and executives about what they seek in strong head coaches. He was a fifth-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2009 but entered college coaching the following year and has never coached in the NFL.
"I've never done it, I don't know enough about it," Freeman said when asked if he would like to be an NFL head coach. "Maybe sometime in the future if it's the right time and it's what I think is right for me, then maybe I'll pursue it. But I don't love wasting time thinking about things that aren't right in front of me."
Freeman thanked Notre Dame for supporting him following the wrestling event incident, where a local high school assistant coach alleged that Freeman pushed him near the doors to the gym. Freeman's son, Vinny, was participating in the event.
The Mishawaka (Ind.) Police Department investigated the incident after the coach, Chris Fleeger, filed a report accusing Freeman of battery. The St. Joseph's County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement that video evidence "does not support" Fleeger's claim, while inadvertent touching likely occurred.
"My family and I have been dragged through the mud unnecessarily with clickbait headlines," Freeman said. "The reality is, I behaved in a respectful and professional manner while protecting my family, and that should have been the only headline."
Freeman also weighed in on the decision to pause the Notre Dame-USC series, at least for the 2026 and 2027 seasons but most likely longer. Trojans coach Lincoln Riley, speaking last month, blamed Notre Dame for not following through on its pledge to play "anytime and anywhere." USC had wanted to move the game to the start of its season, in line with other major nonleague contests played by Big Ten teams.
Other than 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic limited games across the country, Notre Dame and USC have met annually since 1946 and 96 times since 1926.
"I'm a competitive individual, and I want to go and go play anytime, anywhere, but that same token, it's important that I make decisions, too, that are best for the program," Freeman said. "To move a game that we were pretty sure was going to be Week 12 to Week Zero isn't what's best for our program. ... I don't blame them, right? They had to make decisions, we had to make decisions, and so blame me [if you'd like]."
Freeman is hopeful the rivalry can resume soon. Notre Dame replaced USC with Big 12 runner-up BYU on the 2026 (and 2027) schedule, which Freeman hopes can help the Irish return to the CFP and pursue their first national title since 1988.
"We have to leave no doubt how good of a team we are, as we go into 2026," he said. "I hate looking so far down the road, but again, it's our job to make sure that we take care of what we have to do to reach the goals that we have."
