Even as he turned down an opportunity to interview for NFL jobs this offseason, Marcus Freeman left the door open for an eventual move to the pros.
"Maybe sometime in the future, if it’s the right time and it’s what I think is right for me, then maybe I’ll pursue it," Freeman said in January.
On Tuesday, Freeman made it sound as if South Bend is both his present and his future.
“I’m all-in. I’ve been all-in,” Notre Dame's fifth-year head coach told a small group of reporters, via Pete Sampson of TheAthletic.com. “I don’t see myself being the head coach or coaching anywhere else.”
Freeman admitted in an Esquire magazine story this spring that a job coaching the Ravens or the Steelers would have intrigued him. Both jobs were open.
He stayed anyway.
“There were times when I wanted to listen to some other people and I did,” Freeman said. “It confirmed that this is the place I want to be.”
NFL interest is unlikely to go away, no matter what Freeman says or how many times he says it. The question is: Will he eventually change his mind about leaving a premier college job for one at the highest level of the sport?