Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman will forever be compared.
Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU in 2021. Kelly’s move spoke to the ceiling he saw at Notre Dame. He could reach 10 wins there, but he preferred LSU’s path to a national title.
Some Notre Dame fans felt slighted by that implication.
In Kelly’s wake, Notre Dame promoted Marcus Freeman to head coach. Kelly hired Freeman as defensive coordinator before the 2021 season. After one year leading the Irish defense, Freeman was the head coach.
Irish fans had mixed feelings on Kelly’s departure. Some were ready for something new despite Kelly’s success. Freeman brought a new, younger energy to the program.
Freeman went 9-4 in 2022 and 10-3 in 2023. That was a slight step below the 11 wins Notre Dame averaged in the final four years under Kelly.
But in 2024, as Kelly and LSU finished unranked, Freeman and Notre Dame are the talk of the sport. After an 11-1 regular season and two playoff wins, Freeman has the Irish in the final four.
It’s tempting to say Freeman has surpassed Kelly at Notre Dame, but he’s not there yet.
Notre Dame is right where it was under Kelly — in the final four. Kelly led Notre Dame to the four-team playoff twice. In 2012, Kelly and Notre Dame appeared in the national title game.
Kelly and Notre Dame knocked on the door but failed to knock off the Alabama’s and Clemson’s of the world. Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson and Saban’s Alabama were tougher tests than the version of Georgia Notre Dame saw last week.
The knock on Kelly at Notre Dame was that he could not compete with the best of the best in the sport. Freeman is yet to do that too. Until Freeman wins a national title, he will have the same resume Kelly did with the Irish.
This is not to take away from Freeman. He’s one of the sharpest coaches in the game. He hired two really good coordinators Mike Denbrock and Al Golden. The Irish attacked needs in the transfer portal and developed depth to overcome injuries. All those traits are the mark of an elite program builder.
After Kelly’s 2024, Notre Dame fans used it as a “gotcha” moment. Notre Dame is competing for a national title while Kelly and LSU are building for next year.
In a sport that’s all about narrative, it may be pointless to caution against getting carried away with the story of 2024. But Kelly has taken Notre Dame where Freeman is now. Notre Dame has a couple of more wins to go before Freeman sits atop the totem poll.