Notre Dame Football: Should Marcus Freeman be the next head coach for the Irish?

Now that we are a few hours into the chaos that is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach situation... we can start to really think about what’s next for the program. Lincoln Riley’s departure from Oklahoma has already left a wake of destruction to the Sooner roster — both present and future — so it would be nice to settle some things quickly.

But we also want Jack Swarbrick to get it right.

Perhaps the hottest name on the lips of Notre Dame fans and media members is that of Irish defensive coordinator, Marcus Freeman. The man that Brian Kelly was able to hire over the LSU Tigers is a monster on the recruiting trail, young, energetic, and full of potential. But is he too young and too inexperienced to be the head coach at Notre Dame?

The other name that is quite possibly 1B for the Notre Dame job is Luke Fickell of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Fickell’s name has been mentioned quite a bit lately as a guy that would leave Cincy for only his alma mater Ohio State and Notre Dame. He has the group of 5 program that Brian Kelly left in 2009 on the cusp of a college football playoff — and beat Notre Dame in South Bend earlier this year.

While we shouldn’t take ANY name off of the table, those two coaches are probably the frontrunners for the job (if only in fans eyes). Longtime Kelly assistant Mike Elston is another name to consider, and as much as I love Elston, he isn’t the sexiest (sorry Beth) selection in an era that almost demands it as a coaching hire.

Perhaps the soon to be named interim head coach announcement will make things clearer.

Late Monday night... what do you want?