South Bend Times

Marcus Freeman, head football coach at Notre Dame and the winner of the 2024 Dodd Trophy, has been named to the 2025 watch list for the same award. The Dodd Trophy recognizes a head coach whose team excels on the field while emphasizing scholarship, leadership, and integrity. These principles are rooted in legendary coach Bobby Dodd's philosophy.

The award is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season and honors an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coach who embodies these ideals both on and off the field. Freeman joins previous winners Dabo Swinney (2011) and Brian Kelly (2018) on this year's watch list.

Freeman led Notre Dame to a National Championship appearance in 2024 with a record of 14-2 and a final Associated Press ranking of No. 2. He received multiple coaching awards during that season, including the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches College Coach of the Year honor, Ted Ginn Sr. Coach of the Year Award from the National Alliance of African American Athletes, and was named honorary head coach for the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team.

In his tenure as Notre Dame's head coach, Freeman holds an all-time record of 33-10 with a postseason record of 5-2. In 2024 alone, he led his team to victories over seven opponents ranked in the AP Poll: Texas A&M (No. 20), Louisville (No. 15), Navy (No. 24), Army (No. 18), Indiana (No. 9), Georgia (No. 2), and Penn State (No. 5). The win over Penn State marked Freeman's fourteenth victory against ranked teams during his time at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame achieved significant success against AP-ranked teams in 2024 with a record of seven wins out of eight games—the most by any team that year—and recorded three wins over teams ranked in the final Top Ten since their best performance in this category back in 1990.

Statistically speaking, by season's end in various categories such as pass efficiency defense, turnovers gained, defensive touchdowns scored, blocked kicks/punts recovered among others; Notre Dame stood at or near national leaders demonstrating exceptional performance across key metrics for both offensive/defensive plays alike throughout their campaign last year.