As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk shared on Monday, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said during a recent appearance on “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” that he ultimately rejected the chance to be hired by an NFL team this past winter because he “wasn’t ready to let go” of his current position.
Freeman had previously been linked with the New York Giants before he confirmed that he would be staying put. The Giants later hired John Harbaugh, who is expected to serve as the club’s head coach for the foreseeable future.
However, it sounds like some think the New York Jets could become a landing spot for Freeman if Jets head coach Aaron Glenn endures a rough second season with the club.
Do Jets already view Marcus Freeman as a potential Aaron Glenn replacement?
“With Jets head coach Aaron Glenn among those considered to be on the hottest of seats, it would not be shocking for [Freeman] to be a prime candidate,” NFL insider Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom US wrote for a piece published on Tuesday.
Glenn went 3-14 in his first season with the Jets, and some seem to think that Gang Green could again lose more games than it wins during the upcoming campaign. As for Freeman, he has gone 43–12 with Notre Dame since the final game of the team’s 2021 season. In January 2025, he led the program to the national title game, where the Fighting Irish fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Jets among the NFL teams thinking they could land Marcus Freeman this coming winter?
“The New York Giants were among the teams to do significant work assessing how interested Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman would be in joining their organization over the winter,” La Canfora wrote. “They were hardly alone and were prepared to move on him if he was sufficiently interested, according to league sources, as were other organizations. And there is an expectation in front offices around the NFL that this process will begin anew in November, in an even more robust manner, especially with Freeman yet to send an overt public signal that he isn’t open to giving the NFL a try.”
It’s unclear how many wins Glenn may have to notch to avoid being in danger of losing his job when the NFL’s “Black Monday” arrives in January. Meanwhile, La Canfora mentioned that Freeman “has proven to be a master at establishing a culture and being a CEO-type leader and overseeing both sides of the ball.”
Additionally, La Canfora hinted that executives are impressed that Freeman “is producing pro-ready NFL prospects” on a yearly basis. In short, Freeman may already be on the Jets’ radar before Glenn gets the second training camp of his tenure with the team underway.