SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman has been named a finalist for the 2025 FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. He is one of 12 finalists for the honor.
2025 marks Freeman’s second-consecutive finalist honor for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. Four previous Notre Dame coaches have won the award: Ara Parseghian (1964), Lou Holtz (1988), Charlie Weis (2005) and Brian Kelly (2012).
The 10-2 Irish finished the regular season in dominant fashion, impressing in all three phases. In the 2025 regular season, Notre Dame led the nation in interceptions (tied – 21 total INTs), ranking fourth in turnover margin (1.08), fifth nationally in scoring offense (41.8), fifth in team passing efficiency (168.61), eighth in net punting (43.32), ninth in team sacks (2.92), 10th in passing yards per completion (14.11), 11th in rushing defense (99.3), 11th in kickoff returns (25.29), 13th in scoring defense (17.6), 13th in team passing efficiency defense (108.80), 17th in passes had intercepted (6), 18th in total offense (458.5), 18th in third down conversion percentage (0.481), 18th in rushing offense (203.4) and 20th in completion percentage (0.672).
Freeman, now 43-12 as a head coach, has led the Irish to 10-consecutive wins, averaging a nearly a 30-point margin of victory in the win streak, which ranks as one of the Top 10 most dominant streaks in college football over the last five years.
Several Notre Dame student-athletes have earned national honors for their performances so far this season, including junior running back Jeremiyah Love, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Maxwell Award and the Doak Walker Award; sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore, a midseason All-American by several outlets as well as a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award; junior offensive lineman Aamil Wagner, a member of the AFCA Allstate Good Works team and a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy and the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year; freshman quarterback CJ Carr, finalist for the Manning Award and the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year and the one of the nation’s top young quarterbacks; junior running back Jadarian Price, a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award. and several others.