Brian Kelly’s plane to Baton Rouge doesn’t land until Tuesday afternoon but he’s already trying to take a very key piece of Notre Dame’s football program with him to LSU.
Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, who plenty of players and fans alike want to be the next Notre Dame head coach, seems to be main priority for Kelly to take with him to LSU according to Pete Sampson of The Athletic. Sampson was part of The Athletic report on Monday night that originally linked Kelly to LSU and on Tuesday morning Sampson shared the following on Twitter:
Source: LSU head coach Brian Kelly reached out to Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman on Monday in an effort to bring him to Baton Rouge. Kelly would intend to make Freeman the highest paid defensive coordinator in college football.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 30, 2021
This is not at all surprising as Freeman appears to be a star in the making both in-game and as a recruiter.
Does this expedite Jack Swarbrick’s plan in hiring the next head coach?
Does it make Freeman more likely to be that hire?
Jack Swarbrick is a smart guy and had to have seen this coming from Kelly as soon as he knew he was leaving.
What I think this means is that we’ll know very soon if Freeman is a legitimate candidate for the head coach position or not and the only hire that I could possibly imagine him staying at Notre Dame with is if it were his old boss Luke Fickell from Cincinnati.
The pursuit of Freeman is hardly surprising but how Swarbrick and Notre Dame respond will have a massive impact on the future of the football program.
Related:
How Notre Dame players reacted to Brian Kelly news
Kelly’s text to Notre Dame players about departure
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