Marcus Freeman’s father reacts to son being named next Irish head coach

HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio— Marcus Freeman’s father, Michael, says his son has always known the game, but there was more to it for him.

“It seems that football is something that he could do and he could do it well,” Michael said.

Despite an NFL career cut short by a heart condition, the Ohio State grad was a standout on the field.

“When his playing days were finished, he talked to Jim Tressel, who was the coach at the time at Ohio State,” Michael said.

It was that conversation that would get his career started.

“He told him that he wanted to be a part of that program and that’s where started him off. He started off as a GA,” Michael said. “We thought that he might want to look at being an AD sometime. And me and him talked and he said –dad I got the coaching bug. He said I want to coach. This was after he was already given the GA and I said hey, do you like that and he said yea, I like that. And I watched and he said I think this is for me.”

At 35-years-old, Marcus Freeman is the youngest head coach in College Football’s Power Five Programs.

Michael said he's proud of his son and believes Marcus will take care of business when it comes to his new position.

"People like him. People like being around him. But they know, they're appreciative of that fact that he has certain goals set for himself and for those around him. His team and things of that nature. He will work to get those things taken care of," Michael said.

Marcus' father believes he will be successful with Notre Dame Football specifically because he's working with a very smart group of players. 

"One of the things he confided in me about even going to Notre Dame was how intelligent the football players are," Michael said.

The University of Notre Dame announced Friday that Marcus Freeman will be its next head football coach. The promotion follows the departure of Brian Kelly, who took on the head coaching job at LSU earlier this week.