Watch: Notre Dame football players react to Marcus Freeman being named Fighting Irish head coach

Watch the Notre Dame football players react to Marcus Freeman being named head coach.

No doubt about it, the Notre Dame football team recognizes Marcus Freeman as a player’s coach.

When Brian Kelly left South Bend for Baton Rouge, it sent shockwaves all throughout the college football landscape. Nobody leaves the Notre Dame job willingly, but that is exactly what happened. With an outside shot of getting into the College Football Playoff, the Irish were in need of the right head coach to lead them going forward. After only one year in South Bend, this is Freeman’s team.

Check out how utterly ecstatic the entire Notre Dame football team was to see Freeman be promoted from within to be their next head coach.

Notre Dame football players react to Marcus Freeman becoming their head coach

While Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick could have waited to see if Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell would take the job, or kick the tires on Matt Campbell’s interest to leave Ames, he knew he had an elite in-house candidate in Freeman. Not only that, but the Irish were able to retain offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who Kelly also tried to poach and bring to LSU.

Ultimately, Freeman will be judged by his record on the field, above all else. However, he does seem to be bringing with him a cool factor that will help the Irish in recruiting. For a guy who has never been a head coach before, this is quite the step up for the 30-something former defensive coordinator. With that in mind, look at how happy his players are over him getting the promotion.

Losing Kelly to LSU stinks, but Notre Dame did about as good of a job as it could do to replace him.

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