Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2026 5 D an Lanning did it. Steve Sarkisian did, too. Heck, even Lincoln Riley joined t h e m . I t h a p p e n s i n co l l e ge football all over, all the time — coaches publicly declaring they're not leaving their current institutions. W h e n t h ey a d a m a n t ly a s - sert they want to remain where they're at above all else, there's a sense of calm that washes over a fan base. It's only accessed when the affirmation comes from the head man himself. Our coach is our coach. Nobody else's. He said so himself. Aside from a few fleeting "Oh, yeahs" when seemingly caught off guard on "The Today Show" in response to an ambiguous query into his future at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman hadn't given Fighting Irish fans the definitive Jordan Belfort "I'm not leaving " trope they'd been desiring for a while — especially with so many NFL insiders insisting Free- man's candidacy for the New York Gi- ants head coach position was as real as a Christmas tree picked up from the lo- cal lot. Not of the fake from Amazon or Walmart variety. But four days before the start of 2026, Freeman offered three different words that essentially equated to the same thing. "Run it back." It might not have been as resound- ing as Lanning saying live on College GameDay that he'll be in Eugene, Ore., "forever." But these announcements hardly ever are as dramatic as that any- way. And Notre Dame didn't need it to go down so loudly, either. Not at the tail end of a month that was defined by drama by way of getting snubbed from the College Football Play- off and the fallout that accompanied the exclusion, from declining a Pop-Tarts Bowl bid to athletics director Pete Bev- acqua's media rampage. What Notre Dame needed was a sim- ple message from Freeman shooting down the giant Giants rumors. Some- thing more reassuring than "Oh, yeah," but not necessarily some long, overly saturated statement people take for a rather meaningless word salad. "Run it back" played perfectly. It also inadvertently hinted at what Notre Dame fans must brace themselves for every year around this time. Free- man's social media post said "2026 … run it back." It didn't say anything about 2027 or beyond. It didn't say forever. That shouldn't come as a surprise to any Irish fans as unsettling as that may sound. Maybe it's the Arizona Cardinals job that comes open sometime in the next 12 months. Or the Miami Dolphins po- sition. That of the Las Vegas Raiders. And so on and so forth. Every time an NFL team has a head coaching vacancy, Freeman's name will be connected to it. Sometimes loosely. Sometimes in full force. He's accumulated a cache of attractive goodwill that'll be undeniable in every single coaching cycle. That just is what it is. And there isn't any running from it. Only preparing for it. Preparing for any- thing. With a coach of Freeman's stature, all options are always on the table. Freeman didn't tether himself to Notre Dame in the same way Lanning did to Oregon. Not every individual's goals in the profession are identi- cal. Freeman has one of the best jobs in college football, as does Lanning, but that means nothing if it is a dream of his to one day be at the helm of an NFL team. If he said he was never leaving Notre Dame then ultimately did, his image would sour some. But if he left under the circumstances of everyone knowing it was al- ways possible for him to do so, for him to go chase that dream, then it would be much more palatable. What we know for the time be- ing is he's currently living one of his dreams being the face of one of the most reputable college football programs in the country. It's his dream to win a national championship, too. He's given himself another opportunity to check that off the list next season. Will it be his last opportunity? He's the only one who can say. This is his journey, and everyone else is just along for the ride. Notre Dame fans should be thankful for however long it lasts in South Bend. Every day the train churns before arriving at its next stop is a win for Fighting Irish faithful. Freeman's given them his word to keep pouring every last drop of his work life energy into a blue and gold mug for at least one more year. He didn't have to. But Notre Dame fans wanted him to. And he did. Thus, the wheels for what very well could be a special 2026 season remain in motion. Don't worry about what's after that. That's an 11th hour of next year concern. There are more pressing problems to ponder in the meantime anyway. Every program has them. Not every program has their top option at head coach, for instance. For now, Notre Dame does. And if you know anything about him, he's already all over those pressing problems. As Belfort would say, the show goes on. ✦ Marcus Freeman is 43-12 during his highly successful tenure with the Fighting Irish. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT Freeman Is In For '26, But Anything Beyond Is A Bonus Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA