Marcus Freeman sends clear transfer portal warning to Notre Dame players and recruits

Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman shared his thoughts on Nico Iamaleava's contentious departure from Tennessee with On3 Sports' J.D. PicKell this week. In doing so, he gave his own players some food for thought.

"Transactional decisions aren't always the best ones for your future," Freeman said.

In his response, Freeman emphasized that similar NIL negotiations are happening at programs across the country, saying players and universities have representatives that typically resolve disputes behind closed doors. According to Freeman, what made the Nico Iamaleava notable was the fact that it spilled out publicly, which particularly worries him and other coaches.

Marcus Freeman sent a message to his own players while discussing Nico Iamaleava

While emphasizing that players, "deserve to be compensated," Freeman said he worries that players are making, "transactional decisions," in their own short term interest at the detriment of their long term prospects. He also spoke of the need for players to act in the interest of college football and to avoid making decisions that reflect poorly on the sport.

Although Freeman avoided personally condemning Nico Iamaleava, his short and to the point remarks delivered a clear message to recruits, players, and the college football world as a whole. Clearly, Coach Freeman will not tolerate anything that distracts or takes away from the high standard of excellence and teamwork he's cultivated during his time as the head of Notre Dame football.

In an interesting twist, Notre Dame lost quarterback Steve Angeli to the transfer portal just two days after his interview with On3. Although Angeli was the Irish's backup quarterback for the last two seasons behind Sam Hartman in 2023 and Riley Leonard in 2024, he chose to enter the transfer portal after the spring window opened Wednesday.

It remains to be seen if Coach Freeman will turn to the transfer portal or stick with one of the two quarterbacks currently on his roster, but clearly he will look for a player focused on making decisions for the greater good of the sport and the program.