College Football: 3 first-year head coaches who could win national title in 2022

2. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

Former Ohio State star Marcus Freeman has seen plenty of success with his playing days over. He became an Ohio State grad assistant and then immediately parlayed that into Kent State’s linebackers coaching job before accepting the same position at Purdue before turning it into a defensive coordinator role. He was Purdue’s defensive coordinator for a year and then Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell pried him away.

Freeman spent a few seasons with the Bearcats, turning them into one of the best Group of Five teams in the country with a stingy defense, and he was a big reason Cincinnati was able to make a playoff in 2021 — he wasn’t there anymore, but he helped build the defensive foundation.

Brian Kelly hired him as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator after Clark Lea left in 2021 and he became an instant coaching star in South Bend.

Not only was Freeman a fan favorite because of the solid defense he put together, but he also became a favorite to eventually replace Kelly down the line. No one expected that would come so soon as Kelly left suddenly for LSU.

Freeman coached the Fiesta Bowl and his Irish blew a big lead and lost, but he’s still an elite recruiter and has proven to be a solid coach. I think he has enough talent around him in 2022 to compete for a national title and the players have completely bought in.