Notre Dame football players take to social media to support Marcus Freeman

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Just days after Brian Kelly left the University of Notre Dame for a lucrative contract at LSU, and rumors that he might take his coaching staff with him, the Fighting Irish are expected to announce that Marcus Freeman will take the top spot, after being hired as the team's Defensive Coordinator earlier this year.

His promotion to head coach would come by popular demand.

Many players on the roster took to Twitter, posting pictures of Freeman and them together-- several of them calling him 'Coach Freeman,' well before any official announcement.

Longtime Notre Dame fan Mike Leyes said “They’re all-in for Freeman. He’s got a great relationship with the players. He really identifies with them and relates with them, so I don’t think it’s all that unusual for them to support him.”

“It’s hard to tell to what extent that was a factor, but what is clear is, it certainly could not have hurt his chances, to have that kind of overwhelming support in the dressing room,” said Malcolm Moran, the Director of Sports Capital Journalism at IUPUI.

While it's unclear how much influence their support had, Moran said that social media has given players more agency in the decision making process.

“Players are clearly not afraid to express themselves in all kinds of different ways and you have to think that some extent that definitely helped the candidacy," said Moran.

Moran adds that the support for Freeman as head coach would maintain a sense of continuity for players and staff with the upcoming post-season and a chance at winning a National Championship.

“To take a valued person from in house and promote, which obviously gives the Irish a major boost in the event that they get into the college football playoff, because except for the head coach being gone, that void can be filled now and everyone can just do what they’ve been doing," he said. "It’s really a best case scenario for the Irish if they do get in.”