Reports: Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman Turns Down Florida Offer

The Florida Gators search has been associated with candidates from elite football programs around the country amid college football’s coaching carousel.

But the Gators have just been dealt a blow, as No. 12 Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has reportedly rejected Florida’s offer to succeed Billy Napier, according to The Athletic.

It’s not hard to see why Florida would eye a coach like Freeman. 

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said last week the next hiring would focus on getting an elite coach to represent the standard at the university. Freeman shows all the signs of the elite coach Stricklin wants. 

Freeman became the coach of Notre Dame in December 2021, when Brian Kelly resigned to go to LSU. 

Freeman has an impressive record during his short time with the Fighting Irish. He has a 38-12 record and was one win away from winning the national championship last year before losing 34-23 to Ohio State.

Meanwhile, Kelly was just fired by LSU after a 34-14 record, including 19-10 in the SEC.

With LSU being added to the list of powerhouse programs looking for a new coach, Freeman’s rejection of the Florida gig narrows down the list of potentially elite coaches Stricklin could go for. 

That’s not to say Florida can’t land a big-name coach. 

James Franklin is looking for work after being fired at Penn State. Franklin had a 104-45 record during his time with the Nittany Lions and led them to the College Football Playoff semifinals last year. He’s not new to the SEC either, as he was Vanderbilt’s coach for three years before accepting the Penn State job. Vanderbilt made bowl games in all three years of Franklin’s tenure, making him the only coach in program history to lead the school to consecutive bowl appearances.

There’s also Lane Kiffin, the coach of the No. 7 Ole Miss Rebels. Since taking over in 2020, Kiffin has a 51-19 record and turned Ole Miss from a mid-tier SEC program into a national championship contender. 

There also could be a chance Florida considers giving interim coach Billy Gonzales the permanent job. Gonzales has five games and a potential bowl game to make a name for himself.

Gonzales’ first game is this weekend, when Florida (3-4, 2-2 SEC) takes on No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) in Jacksonville. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and coverage will also start at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN 98.1-FM, 103.7-FM/850-AM WRUF.

Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC