Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman seems to have forgotten the vital role he plays in history.
He is not the first African American coach to guide The Fighting Irish, but his presence at the helm of college football’s most historic and recognizable football program cannot be understated.
So, for Notre Dame to withdraw from bowl consideration because it is miffed to not be in the College Football Playoff ignores Freeman’s significance as coach.
“As a team, we’ve decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season,” read a statement by the Notre Dame football team posted on social media on Sunday night. “We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we’re hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the football world had not heard from Freeman. Hopefully, he supported his team but disagreed with the misguided decision.
In a nation where its president is making every effort to erase Black history and Black heroes from textbooks, museums, and national parks, Freeman should never dodge a chance to be front-and-center.
Every time Notre Dame kicks off a game, there are Black people – most of them probably children – that learn an African American is coach of the most storied institution in college football.
It might be easy for the average American football fan to forget Freeman’s importance. He must not. This decision by Notre Dame is selfish and shortsighted. If the head coach agrees with the decision, he has lost sight of something valuable.
Notre Dame is not alone. In the wake of coaching changes, Iowa State and Kansas State have turned down bowl bids. The Cyclones had seven wins, and the Wildcats reached the bowl prerequisite by finishing the season 6-6.
Both teams were rightfully fined $500,000 by the Big 12 Conference.
A series of 5-7 teams have also turned down bowl bids, including the University of Kansas. I’m a Jayhawk and I’m disgusted.
Yes, KU didn’t reach six wins but isn’t three weeks of formal practice worth something? Couldn’t offering a few days off campus and a nationally televised football opportunity be important to a walk-on player, cheerleader, band member, or equipment manager?
Florida State, Auburn, the University of Central Florida, Baylor, Temple, and Rutgers, all 5-7, also are passing on a bowl opportunity.
Notre Dame is not the only football program with a “Rudy” that just wants to run out of the tunnel with his team and maybe record a play or two in a bowl game.
College football is not all about millions of dollars and a national championship.
I hope Freeman never fails to understand that, or the role he is playing in Black history.
The Reid Roundup
I remain impressed with Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates and his transformation of the Tigers’ program. He is among the best recruiters in the nation and Mizzou currently has one of the best 2027 classes. But, blaming the referees for the 80-60 beatdown KU put on Missouri in Kansas City last Sunday is a bad look…St. Louisan Caleb Love, who starred with North Carolina and Arizona before being drafted by the Portland Trailblazers, averaged 23 points a game, 5.5 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes per contest in respective games last week against Golden State and Cleveland. But he’s averaging just nine points per game and has a woeful shooting percentage overall…Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently reported that St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker is at Driveline Baseball in Arizona “for an assessment and the beginning of an offseason commitment to adjust his swing, alter his stance, and dive eagerly into a total-body program.”…On a recent podcast appearance, former Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn discussed Walker’s regression and said what I’ve been thinking the last two seasons. “What are [the Cardinals] doing to simplify things for him? I think the game got too quick for him with too many changes. When you’re thinking too much, you’re a robot and then you’re just kind of free-swinging it and you get locked up.”