38-year-old Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman lays down mantra for "winning a national championship"

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, 38, has led his team to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, while only losing one game this season thus far. Since he started his tenure with the program at the end of the 2021 season, he has focused on building the work ethic of his players.

On Thursday, Coach AJ made a post on X about work ethic and what you have to do to see constant improvement in your life. He used an interview Marcus Freeman did with "The Pivot" as an example of what kind of mindset someone should have when they are trying to improve.

"You don't see it on the front end. It isn't, you can't talk your way into winning a national championship," Freeman said. "You can't talk your way into being a Hall of Famer in the NFL. You gotta work and you gotta constantly focus on improvement and at some point we'll look at the results and see where you're at. But that's kind of been my mindset."

Marcus Freeman's focus on constant improvement has led Notre Dame to the CFP semifinals

Marcus Freeman's mindset on constant improvement has helped Notre Dame take the step to the next level. Although the Fighting Irish have always been a strong football program, they have taken another step under him.

Under former head coach, Brian Kelly from 2010 to 2021, the Fighting Irish only had a losing record once, while recording more than 10 wins in a season six times. However, the team had an up-and-down record in bowl games and never reached the national championship game.

Since his first full season in 2022, Freeman's Notre Dame has constantly improved. After achieving a 9-4 season in 2022, the team improved to 10-3 in 2023. Then this year in 2024, the team has a 13-1 record ahead of the CFP semifinal. It is the first time in the team's history that it has recorded 13 or more wins in a season.

Furthermore, with Freeman as the head coach of the Fighting Irish, the team has not lost a bowl game unless you count the 2021 Fiesta Bowl. They won the Gator Bowl in 2022, the Sun Bowl in 2023 and won all playoff games thus far in 2024.

They will play in the Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.