Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman makes Dodd Trophy preseason watch list

Hope he stays in the conversation.

There’s no question Notre Dame coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] will feel the pressure to excel in 2024. Depending on how well he’s able to do that, a lot of people might have their eyes on him for all the right reasons.

We don’t know how Freeman’s season will go, but we do know at least some people have an idea. They think he’ll do well. Otherwise, Freeman wouldn’t have been one of 21 names on the preseason watch list for the Dodd Trophy, which is given annually to the country’s top coach. Brian Kelly, also on this year’s list for LSU, was the lone winner for the Irish in 2018.

This season, Freeman will coach against three others who made the watch list. They are USC’s Lincoln Riley, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Florida State’s Mike Norvell. That means Freeman should have the advantage in most games this season, at least on paper. We’ll see how well that translates in the actual games.

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