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Newsstand: Where CBS ranks Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman among Power Four head coaches

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka05/28/26tbhorka

Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman keeps climbing the ranks.

Last season, CBS Sports ranked Freeman No. 6 among all Power Four conference head coaches entering the 2025 season. This year, which will be Freeman’s fifth in charge of the Fighting Irish, CBS slots Freeman at No. 4. He’s behind only No. 3 Ryan Day of Ohio State, No. 2 Kirby Smart of Georgia and No. 1 Curt Cignetti of Indiana.

A panel of 10 voters from CBS casted their ballots for the exercise. Freeman’s highest slot was 4, and his lowest was 7. He averaged out to come in fourth.

Freeman is the highest-ranked head coach in the poll that has not won a national championship. Day’s only title came against Freeman and the Irish two seasons ago. Smart has won two titles, and Cignetti just claimed his first — and the Hoosiers’ first of all time — last season.

In 2026, the Irish face three other coaches who cracked the top 15; No. 7 Mario Cristobal of Miami, No. 12 Kalani Sitake of BYU and No. 15 Rhett Lashlee of SMU.

For the full list of results, click here.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

The Fighting Irish’s Halloween game against Navy officially has a kickoff time — noon ET.

The Fighting Irish women’s basketball program produces big-time professionals.

Introducing one of the newest Fighting Irish men’s basketball players, Braeden Smith.

Fighting Irish quote of the day

“I would imagine that they take the cuffs off [quarterback CJ Carr] a little more. I thought he was very good last year, but I also thought that they asked little of him. Create isolation routes, get the ball to the right guy. Indiana did the same thing — ran the ball, created one-on-ones and took advantage of them. And [Carr] is more talented than Fernando Mendoza. That’s saying a lot.”

— An anonymous coach to Athlon Sports on the prowess of Irish quarterback CJ Carr

Blue & Gold headlines of the day

• 5-star David Folorunsho talks Irish commitment, recruiting Brayden Parks
• Five players who could shake up Notre Dame’s defensive depth chart with strong summer surges
• The Gold Standard: What is left on Notre Dame’s 2027 recruiting board?

• Texas AD on Notre Dame series: ‘They’re tentatively on the schedule right now’
• 2028 Rivals100 WR Marshaun Thornton sees talent in Notre Dame wide receiver group
• Where are Notre Dame’s top targets officially visiting this weekend?