The 2025 college football season has seen numerous high-profile head coaches lose their jobs in the last handful of weeks. From Penn State parting ways with James Franklin, Florida moving on from Billy Napier and the latest hitting close to home for many in South Bend with LSU firing Brian Kelly.
The former Notre Dame head coach left the program for Baton Rouge in 2021 and despite a good start, things never seemed to click for Kelly and the Tigers. Kelly ended his tenure as the head coach with a record of 34-14 with a 5-11 record against ranked opponents.
LSU parted ways with Kelly less than 24 hours after a blowout loss at home to Texas A&M.
“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said in a press release. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night’s game. I am grateful for the ongoing consultations and support of the LSU Board of Supervisors and interim president Matt Lee in this decision. We wish Coach Kelly and his family the very best in their future endeavors. We will continue to negotiate his separation and will work toward a path that is better for both parties.”
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was initially brought in to South Bend by Kelly in 2021 to be the team’s defensive coordinator.
“Coach Kelly gave me an opportunity to come here and I'm always rooting for him,” Freeman said. “But it's also the profession we've chosen. We've chosen this profession and we know that can be a result of choosing this profession.
“I've said this previously, you never wanna see anybody lose their job. That person, the coaches, the families, the people affected, the players, especially somebody you know, right? And at the end of the day, you're always rooting for, right?
With there now being eight Power-4 head coach openings before November, Freeman recognized the volatility of the position, and how everything can seemingly change in a handful of days. If Kelly and the Tigers found a way to win last Saturday, he probably buys himself more time in Baton Rouge — but he didn’t and now he’s gone.
“You asked about the state of college football, it is what it is, like it or not like it, it is what it is and you can't worry about that,” Freeman said. “You gotta worry about giving your all to this team and putting this program in a position to have success.”
While Freeman is a long way off before being in a situation where his job at Notre Dame is at risk, there have been periods in his tenure where the state of his program was questioned by the community.
Franklin’s Penn State team started the season No. 1 in the AP Poll, and now he’ll be looking for another job after a disastrous three weeks. Things can change in a heartbeat, especially in today’s world of NIL in college football.
“I think I've said this previously, but it's a reminder to be grateful for what you have,” Freeman said. “If you're not grateful for what you have, you'll find a way to lose it and I'm not talking about a coach, I'm talking about in life, like if you're not grateful for what you have, you're gonna find a way to lose it, you know? Again, every time I hear some of those things, it reminds me of the gratitude I have for this opportunity at this place with the people I get to work with, the players I get to be involved with, man, I'm grateful.”
But with all of these job openings and more on the way, it does raise the question about whether or not any on the Notre Dame staff could get an opportunity to be a head coach. Freeman welcomes the idea of any on his staff to get that opportunity, if they want it.
“I think that's coming from the assumption that everybody is dying to be a head coach, right?” Freeman said. “I don't know if that's the case. I don't know if everybody wakes up and says, I'm dying to be a head coach. If they are, I would stand on the table for every one of our coaches. I'm humbled by the coaching staff that we have, right? They all deserve an opportunity if they want to be a head coach to lead a program.”
In 2024, offensive line coach Al Washington interviewed for the Boston College job.
Whether or not any programs with openings have potential interest in Irish staff members or not, Freeman believes they’ll all have success anywhere they go.
“I believe there'll be success because they do it for the right reasons,” Freeman said. “It isn't, they don't do this for individual glory, they do it because they want to help young people. If that's at the core of who you are and the core of your heart, you're going to have success because you're going to know that having success takes more than just you. And we got a whole bunch of coaches that understand that. I hope they all do get the opportunity if that's what they aspire to do and I'm going to be their biggest advocate.
“I would, again, you hate losing great coaches because we're not in this position, I'm not in this position without working with great coaches and great players, but you want every individual coach, support staff member to do what's best for them and get opportunities that they desire to have. And so if me being an advocate for them can help them, I'll be the guy on the table, standing and yelling and advocating for them.”
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