Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said he has put “zero thought” into coaching in the NFL despite reported interest this week from the Chicago Bears.
Speaking on Saturday at media day for the College Football Playoff national championship, Freeman told reporters in Atlanta he has been too busy preparing for his team’s matchup against Ohio State on Monday to think about an NFL future.
“To hear that the Bears have interest, it’s humbling,” Freeman said. “It’s the NFL. But it’s also a reminder of with team success comes individual success.
“I have put zero thought into coaching in the NFL. All my attention has just been on getting this team prepared for every opportunity we have in front of us.”
NFL Network reported earlier in the week that the Bears were interested in interviewing Freeman for their vacant head coaching job.
Freeman, 39, would be the latest entry into a lengthy list of candidates that have spanned the NFL and college ranks. The Bears have interviewed at least 16 coaches and have reported interest in a handful of others. Most recently, an ESPN report Saturday said the Bears inquired about trading for Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, an idea the Steelers rebuffed.
OSU star Smith: ‘It’s not about me’
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was able to keep a team-first approach after having extra defensive attention make him almost invisible in the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl win over Texas.
After all, that extra attention limited Smith to one catch for three yards but opened up opportunities for his teammates in the 28-14 win that earned Ohio State a berth in Monday night’s national championship game.
“I’m not a selfish player. It’s not just all about me,” Smith said Saturday. “It’s about the whole team. If I’ve got to be a decoy this game as well, all I want to do is win, so if that’s what it takes, to be a decoy to win the game, that’s what I’ll do. It doesn’t matter.”
One of the key questions in the championship game: Will Notre Dame play man defense against Ohio State’s receivers? That strategy has worked well for the Fighting Irish, but Smith and Emeka Egbuka are different than most receivers.
“At the core of it, we’re wide receivers so we’d love the opportunity to be able to just go out and be one-on-one,” Egbuka said. “At the end of the day, whatever coverages they play, our coaches are going to have a good gameplan for it.”
Love says knee is 100%
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love says he needed a full half in the Orange Bowl before he had total confidence his knee was ready for him to play his normal game.
Love had 11 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown in the 27-24 Orange Bowl semifinal playoff win over Penn State.
“I’d say it all clicked for me in the second half of that game,” Love said. “The hurdling came and the touchdown came. … It was all a mental thing.”
Love said Saturday he won’t need that extra time to gain confidence in the knee in Monday night’s game.
“As for this week,” he said, “I’m 100% and ready to go.”
Texas, Sarkisian agree on new contract
Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian have agreed on a new contract more than a week after the Longhorns were knocked out of the CFP, according to media reports.
The Action Network first reported the new deal that it said came after Sarkisian declined interviews with two NFL teams for coaching spots. ESPN reported Saturday that the deal for the 50-year-old Sarkisian is for seven years.
Wisconsin raises possibility of tampering
Wisconsin says it has “credible information” that Miami and Xavier Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer to his home-state school.
Lucas’ lawyer, Darren Heitner, said Friday that his client was going to play for Miami even though Wisconsin had never entered Lucas’ name into the transfer portal.
More:Friday’s college football: Ex-Wisconsin DB wasn’t in portal but says he’s transferring anyway
Wisconsin issued a statement Saturday saying it hadn’t put Lucas’ name into the portal because he had entered into a two-year binding name, image and likeness agreement with “substantial financial compensation” for him.
“Under the terms of the agreement between Xavier and Wisconsin Athletics, it remains in effect and enforceable,” Wisconsin said. “Badger student-athletes who have signed these agreements expect Wisconsin Athletics to honor the terms. Wisconsin Athletics relies on the student-athlete representations in signing these agreements that they will do the same. A request to enter the transfer portal after entering into such an agreement is inconsistent with the representations and mutual understanding of the agreement and explains the reason for not processing a transfer portal request under these circumstances.”
Heitner had said Friday in an X post that Lucas had agreed to a memorandum of understanding that was conditioned on the approval of the House settlement – which calls for schools to pay players directly for use of their name, image and likeness – and Lucas attending classes no later than this spring. Heitner added that Lucas has since unenrolled from Wisconsin.
Heitner said that Lucas hasn’t received any money from Wisconsin and therefore owes no money to the school. Heitner also argued that Wisconsin had violated an NCAA bylaw by not entering Lucas into the national transfer database within two business days of the player’s request.
Wisconsin fired back by raising the possibility of tampering.
“We have credible information indicting impermissible contact between Xavier and University of Miami football program personnel prior to Xavier’s request to enter the transfer portal,” Wisconsin said. “Direct interference with another institution’s committed player and contractual interests is prohibited by NCAA tampering rules and the law.
“This is another significant moment in the evolution of college athletics. As we move toward a future state that will rely on direct contracting with student athletes, enforcing the parties’ adherence to contract obligations and addressing improper interference by other institutions must be a priority. The system cannot work without an operational model that both establishes and enforces agreed upon rules and regulations, and contractual terms that are binding on both institutions and student-athletes.”
The Big Ten Conference put out a separate statement Saturday backing Wisconsin.
“As student-athletes become active participants in revenue sharing, it is critical that agreed-to obligations be respected, honored, and enforced,” the Big Ten said. “In light of current laws and association rules, information suggesting tampering and contract interference in this case by the University of Miami is very troubling.”
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