Notre Dame was going from Brian Kelly, a proven head coach with an extensive résumé and the school’s all-time leader in wins, to Marcus Freeman, who had been a defensive coordinator for only a few years and had spent only one season in South Bend, Ind.

There’s a history of Cincinnati influence in South Bend, including Kelly, who spent three seasons with the Bearcats before taking the Notre Dame job. A year before Kelly poached Freeman, he hired Bearcats defensive backs coach Mike Mickens, a Cincinnati alum who was a teammate of Freeman’s at Wayne High School outside of Dayton.

Say Marcus Freeman does take an NFL job. Who are the first calls you make to find his replacement at Notre Dame?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had an incredible season, going 11-1 to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff as the No. 7 seed. They went on an impressive

Ahead of the national title game, former athletic director Jack Swarbrick reflects on the traits that led him to hire Freeman as the head football coach three years ago.

And in my 24 years on the Notre Dame football beat, no Irish team created more for the fan base than this one. Covering a run through the Playoff was to know you were documenting a team Notre Dame fans will be talking about for decades.

Notre Dame General Manager Chad Bowden has left the program for USC with a reported $1M salary following key program departures