Marcus Freeman (American football coach)

Marcus Freeman (born January 10, 1986) a former American football linebacker and coach, who is currently the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State.

For the American football tight end, see Marcus Freeman (tight end).

Marcus Freeman
Current position
TitleDefensive coordinator and linebackers coach
TeamNotre Dame
ConferenceIndependent
Biographical details
Born (1986-01-10) January 10, 1986
Huber Heights, Ohio
Alma materOhio State
Playing career
2005–2008Ohio State
2009*Chicago Bears
2009*Buffalo Bills
2009*Houston Texans
Position(s)Linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2010Ohio State (GA)
2011–2012Kent State (LB)
2013–2015Purdue (LB)
2016Purdue (Co-DC/LB)
2017–2020Cincinnati (DC/LB)
2021–presentNotre Dame (DC/LB)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
As player
  • 2× Second Team All-Big Ten (2007, 2008)
As coach
  • 247Sports Defensive Coordinator of the Year (2020)

Freeman has also been a member of the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans.

Early years

Freeman was rated as one of the top three overall prospects in Ohio as a senior and named to the Parade All-America team coming out of Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio. He was credited with 127 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries as a senior. He totaled 152 tackles, including 29 behind the line of scrimmage, and eight sacks as a junior Freeman was a four-year starter and a two-time first-team All-Ohio selection. He also ran track, competing in the 4×100-meter relay and throwing the shot and discus.

College career

Attended Ohio State University (2004–08), appearing in 51 games (37 starts) over the course of his career. He started 26 games at weak-side linebacker and 11 games at strong-side linebacker and was a two-time Second-team All-Big Ten selection. He finished his career 19th on the school's all-time tackle list with 268 stops (140 solo) and was credited with 21.5 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, 15 PBUs, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.

In 2008, he started all 13 games linebacker position He was a Second-team All-Big Ten selection, finishing with 84 tackles (39 solo) and added 9.5 TFLs, 4 PBUs, 1 fumble recovery and 3.5 sacks. Also named Academic All-Big Ten. In 2007, he was a second-year starting linebacker and a part of three special units and was Second-team All-Big Ten after he totaled 109 tackles 9.5 TFL, 5 PBU. In 2006, he made 71 stops, played 13 games and started 11 at linebacker and was second on the team with six pass break-ups and two interceptions. In 2005, he redshirted. In 2004, he finished his rookie season with four tackles, recording one solo stop and three assists, in 13 games.

Professional career

Pre-draft
Pre-draft measureables[1]
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20 ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic
6-0 * 239 * 4.51 * 1.53 * 2.72 * 4.08** 6.06** 37" * 9'05" * 30* 23 *
* represents NFL Combine

Chicago Bears

Freeman was drafted in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He was waived on September 4, 2009.

Buffalo Bills

Freeman was signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad on September 22. He later was released in early October.

Houston Texans

Freeman signed with the Houston Texans on November 4.

Retirement

On May 1, 2010, Freeman retired due to an enlarged heart condition.

Coaching career

Early career

He was the linebackers and assistant coach for Kent State in 2011.[2][3]

He was hired as the Purdue linebackers coach in January 2013. For the 2016 season, Freeman was promoted to co-defensive coordinator. Freeman helped transform the linebackers group into a strength for the Boilermakers, coaching future NFL players Danny Ezechukwu and Ja'Whaun Bentley.[4]

Cincinnati

On December 13, 2016, Freeman joined the Cincinnati Bearcats football staff.[5] After being one of the first hires by Luke Fickell, Freeman transformed the Bearcats into one of the best defenses of the American Athletic Conference. In 2018 Freeman's defense led the American in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense and ranked among the Top-15 in the NCAA FBS in all three categories. The next season, the Bearcats finished atop the 2019 AAC ranks in scoring defense for the second-straight season and ranked among the league's top three in rushing and total defense.[6]

Prior to the end of the 2020 season, Freeman had declined a handful of positions to remain at Cincinnati including offers of returning to Ohio State as linebackers coach,[7] linebackers coach for the Tennessee Titans,[8] and defensive coordinator at Michigan State[9] among other offers. January 2021 it was announced that Freeman had been hired to be the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame. It was stated that Freeman was Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's top choice for the position.[10] Freeman has been considered by a number of national outlets as one of the rising stars of the college coaching ranks.[11]

Freeman was a finalist for the Broyles Award and named the 247Sports Defensive Coordinator of the Year during the 2020 season.[12][13]

Notre Dame

After the 2020 season, Freeman was announced as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame.[14] This was announced after reports that he would join LSU as their defensive coordinator.[15]

References
  1. Cowboys zone.com Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Marcus Freeman". Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  3. Doug Lesmerises (December 21, 2010). "Assistant coach Marcus Freeman follows Darrell Hazell to Kent State: Ohio State Buckeyes Insider". www.cleveland.com. Advance Ohio. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  4. "Marcus Freeman". purduesports.com. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  5. Steven Petrella (December 13, 2016). "Purdue coach, ex-Ohio State LB Marcus Freeman announces he'll join Luke Fickell's Cincinnati staff". www.landof10.com. Cox Media Group. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  6. "Marcus Freeman". gobearcats.com. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  7. Murphy, Patrick (January 11, 2019). "Report: Marcus Freeman was offered Buckeye linebacker job". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  8. Froyd, Crissy (February 4, 2020). "UC Bearcats DC Marcus Freeman reportedly turned down offer from Titans". usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  9. Whitaker, Michael (February 16, 2020). "CINCINATTI DC MARCUS FREEMAN REJECTS "SIGNIFICANT ATTEMPT" BY MICHIGAN STATE TO HIRE HIM". detroitsportsnation.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. "Notre Dame hires defensive coordinator, Cincinnati's Marcus Freeman". Inside the Irish | NBC Sports. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  11. Feldman, Bruce (August 25, 2020). "Feldman: 15 college football coordinators to watch this fall". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  12. Khan Jr, Sam (December 28, 2020). "Alabama Crimson Tide OC Steve Sarkisian wins Broyles Award". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  13. Marcello, Brandon (December 29, 2020). "Marcus Freeman is 247Sports' Defensive Coordinator of the Year". 247sports.com. 247Sports. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  14. Khan Jr, Sam (January 8, 2021). "Marcus Freeman to Join Notre Dame as Bob Hinton Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach". und.com. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  15. Vowles, Joshua (January 8, 2021). "LSU likely to sign top Notre Dame DC candidate, Marcus Freeman". One Foot Down. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
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