Obviously, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and CJ Carr have a special relationship

Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with quarterback CJ Carr (13) in the first half against the Southern California Trojans at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Ever since Marcus Freeman took over at Notre Dame, there has been a lot of new ground broken. Other than the aura of winning a national championship, the Irish are one of the elite programs again — and life is mostly good.

Some of the proof is that the Irish are a consensus top two in odds to win the national championship, and quarterback CJ Carr is one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. But why are things so different? Why have things changed so drastically under Marcus Freeman?

Brian Kelly won a lot of games at Notre Dame, and he also played for a national championship game in his third season as the head coach. Why are we so much more enamored with Freeman s opposed to Brian Kelly at this point in their careers? A good personality goes a long way anywhere, but maybe as the head coach of the Notre Dame Football team it does much more than that.

With Coach Freeman, his interactions with his players look and sound genuine. He appears to have mastered the ability to be a both Commander in Chief and the guy in the foxhole with you. It’s an incredibly hard thing to do, and even if a coach does do it — it doesn’t guarantee success.