Marcus Freeman Gets Honest About His Relationship With Jim Tressel

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Tomorrow night’s national championship game will have a lot of familiarity for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.

Freeman, who is in his third season in charge of the Fighting Irish, is facing his alma mater Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship in Atlanta. It will be the third time Freeman has coached against his former school, having lost to the Buckeyes in 2022 and 2023.

From 2004-08, Freeman played linebacker at OSU under Jim Tressel, the program’s head coach from 2001-10. He also started his coaching career under Tressel as a graduate assistant in 2010.

On Sunday, Freeman said he talks “often” with his mentor and even though this game is a “unique” situation for Tressel, he’s excited to have his former coach in the building.

“I’ve talked to him recently,” Freeman said, via On3. “I didn’t know he was coming to the game. We don’t talk about things like that. We just talk about probably some — I’m able to ask him questions, and he gives me his opinion. That’s probably what’s most important. Somebody that I hold very high, somebody that has experience in games like this, somebody that can give you a perspective from a previous head coach in terms of how you performed last game.”

NEW ORLEANS – JANUARY 07: Jim Tressel, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes walks the sidelines during the AllState BCS National Championship against the Louisiana State University Tigers on January 7, 2008 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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A Fairborn, Ohio native, Freeman has tried to avoid himself being the topic of conversation in the leadup to this game, preferring to keep the focus on his players.

“In terms of this season, yes, from where we started,” Freeman said when asked if this was a “full circle” moment for him. “You know, the start (with Texas A&M) and you know, the loss to Northern Illinois to now … we’re getting ready to play for the national championship, it’s full circle. This has nothing to do with the past and where I went to school. This is about this opportunity that lies right ahead of us.”

Notre Dame is looking for its first national championship in 36 years, while Ohio State is looking for its first title in a decade.

Notre Dame and Ohio State will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET tomorrow on ESPN.

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