Marcus Freeman agrees to 4 year extension with Notre Dame

We like him

There had been whispers about a contract extension deal coming soon between Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman, but nothing more until Sunday when Nicole Auerbach broke the news.

Notre Dame and Freeman agreed to a four year extension which runs through the 2030 football season.

According to an Irish Illustrated report citing John Brice, the deal will make Freeman one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football with an estimated annual salary of $9 million.

Sources tell FootballScoop’s John Brice, also of Irish Illustrated, that Freeman’s annual salary is expected to jump from $7 million to an average of more than $9 million for the term of the deal. Additionally, the incentive structure of his deal, which includes bonuses for making the College Football Playoffs, is also being tweaked.

Marcus Freeman is 30-9 since taking over as the Irish head coach right before the Fiesta Bowl game in 2021. He is 2-1 in bowl games, and 2-1 against the USC Trojans. The 11 wins he has over top 25 opponents is the most ever for a Notre Dame coach in hist first three seasons. He currently has the Irish ranked #3 in the country in the AP Top 25 and a 7 seed in the college football playoff.

By most accounts both surrounding the program and nationally, Marcus Freeman is doing a fantastic job as Notre Dame’s head coach — and they are rewarding him for that job. Even more so, Notre Dame continues to prove that it is serious about competing for national championships with such a heavy investment.

Personally, I have always put a high premium on continuity and program stability. Whether fans want to admit it or not, Notre Dame had that with Brian Kelly. It’s a great relief that Notre Dame has something similar brewing with Marcus Freeman — which could be even better in the very near future.