Marcus Freeman played at the Ohio State University from 2005-2008. Credit: Fightin Irish Media
Three seasons ago, Ohio State ushered in a new era under Ryan Day as head coach.
Saturday, No. 5 Notre Dame will do similarly as former Buckeyes linebacker Marcus Freeman will make his regular-season head coaching debut at the helm of the Fighting Irish. Freeman said Monday he’s focused more on competing against No. 2 Ohio State and less on his own Buckeye memories.
“I’m pretty, right now, emotionless about going back to Ohio State, but more it’s like about the emotions you have. It’s like, ‘Man, we get to go play a great team. You get to go play in a great, hostile environment,’” Freeman said. “Like any competitor, you get those butterflies. You get that excitement about going into a place like that and going to compete against a great program like Ohio State and so that, to me, is the focus.”
Freeman started 37 games during his Buckeye career from 2004 to 2008, playing on four Big Ten championship teams and two that played in the BCS championship game in 2006 and 2007.
Over a decorated playing career that transitioned into coaching, which began as a graduate assistant with the Buckeyes under former head coach Jim Tressel in 2010, Freeman said he wants to help the Fighting Irish keep focus on Saturday’s game.
“I have great memories of running on the field at Ohio Stadium, but the ones that you remember the most are the teammates,” Freeman said. “What we can’t do is let those things that are outside those white lines affect what we do on the field because if you do, it’s going to be a long game. But if you can really focus on and understand, it’s what matters between those white lines that really affects and impacts a game.”
Both coaching staffs have plenty of ties between Notre Dame and Ohio State beyond Freeman. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith played on the Notre Dame football team, winning a national championship with the Fighting Irish in 1973, and running backs coach Tony Alford coached in South Bend, Indiana, from 2009 to 2014.
On the Fighting Irish’s current staff, Al Washington is in his first season as the defensive line coach after leading the Buckeyes’ linebacker room since 2019. Former three-time Buckeye captain and linebacker James Laurinaitis is also a defensive graduate assistant on Notre Dame’s staff.
Head coach Ryan Day said he thinks Ohio State having coaches who have Notre Dame ties and vice versa adds an interesting wrinkle to Saturday’s top-five matchup.
“It’s a small world and kind of unique, but it’s exciting,” Day said. “We’re all competitive and looking forward to play Saturday night.”
New Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles joins the Buckeyes from Oklahoma State. Although he didn’t coach in it, the Cowboys played their final game last season against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1.
Knowles said he’s “aware” Freeman and Notre Dame may have familiarity with Ohio State, and particularly the Buckeyes’ new-look defense, beyond just their coaching ties from the Fiesta Bowl.
“It’s a good game to have to be able to look at it from both sides, what Oklahoma State did and what our opponent did,” Knowles said. “But it’s just another game. You may glean more from it because of the aspects of game planning that go on both sides, but it’s just one in many games that you look at.”
Even on both Notre Dame and Ohio State’s rosters, connections are ample. Buckeyes fourth-year captain and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg is the younger brother of former Notre Dame offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg. Fighting Irish second-year wide receiver Lorenzo Styles is also the older brother of Ohio State first-year safety Sonny Styles — and their father, Lorenzo Styles Sr., played at Ohio State from 1992 to 1994.
With his background at Ohio State storied and his coaching tenure at Notre Dame entering his second year, Freeman said he thought back to former Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly, who showed the team a video before playing Florida State and Virginia Tech last season.
It’s an approach Freeman said he’d like to do similarly to prepare Notre Dame before it enters Ohio Stadium to play the Buckeyes.
“It was kind of cool to just see, ‘OK, this is what it’s going to be like,’” Freeman said. “I think I’m going to take the same approach and be able to try to show them a little bit of what the game day atmosphere will be like.”
