Odds to Be Next Notre Dame Head Coach With Brian Kelly Taking LSU Job – Freeman & Fickell Favorites; Urban Meyer +1000

• Notre Dame is looking for a Head Coach after Brian Kelly bolted for the LSU opening
• Current DC Marcus Freeman is the heavy favorite to take over the Fightin’ Irish football program
• See the odds on all candidates and insight in to the coaching search by scrolling below

In the second stunning move of the coaching carousel, Brian Kelly has opted to leave Notre Dame and take over at LSU. It comes less than 48 hours after Lincoln Riley stunned the CFB world by moving to USC from Oklahoma in what’s shaping up to be the wildest offseason in recent memory.

Kelly’s Notre Dame team is still a darkhorse playoff contender – sixth in the latest rankings – with a chance to make the field should some breaks go their way, but now they are looking for a Head Coach.

Current Defensive Coordinator Marcus Freeman is the early favorite and receiving support from the players on the roster, while his former boss Luke Fickell at Cincinnati has long been rumored to have interest – but he’s also in the Playoff hunt with the undefeated Bearcats.

The following odds are generated by SBD for informational and entertainment purposes, based on the latest intel.

Odds to Be Next Notre Dame Football Head Coach

Odds as of Nov. 30th

There’s a chance Freeman is named to the position as of Tuesday morning, according to some Notre Dame insiders.

Freeman the Favorite of Current Players and Fans

When Kelly was able to convince Freeman to pass on LSU (funny enough) this past offseason and become his Defensive Coordinator in South Bend, he mentioned that he very well could be the Head Coach-in-waiting for the program.

He just might have his chance now as the 35-year old seems to be the consensus choice from players on the roster, incoming recruits and a bunch of both regular and influential (AKA boosters) fans around the program.

As you can hear in the podcast above from Irish players, team captain Kyle Hamilton has thrown his support behind their Defensive Coordinator.

Freeman’s defenses have always been strong, and he’s been able to up his recruiting level after coming to South Bend. Currently ranked #3 overall recruiter by 247Sports, he’s the lead man on both 5-star LBs Drayk Bowen and Jaylen Sneed who are top 40 players in the 2022 and 2023 classes, respectively.

Experience could be an issue to some, as he’s only been a Coordinator at the college level for five full seasons – something his former boss Luke Fickell would appear to have the edge in.

Would Luke Fickell Leave Cincinnati?

Fickell has rebuffed overtures from multiple schools as he’s grown Cincinnati in to a Playoff contender. The murmurs have been he’d only move to take over his alma mater at Ohio State – or Notre Dame were it to ever open.

Of course, Fickell just took down Notre Dame, 24-13, earlier this season in the win that launched the Bearcats Playoff campaign.

While Notre Dame is obviously a step-up in profile from the Bearcats, there’s a case to be made long term that Fickell could have a ceiling just as high staying at Cincinnati.

Moving in to the Big 12 should both expand his recruiting footprint and chance to regularly compete for national championships in what is expected to be an expanded Playoff coming in the near future.

With Cincinnati currently holding on to their best recruiting class of all-time (#30 nationally) – would Fickell leave his team that is currently sitting in a Playoff spot to jump in at Notre Dame? And would that force Freeman to go back and take over the Bearcats?

It will be a fascinating situation to see play out.

Do Urban or Any of the Other Longshots Have a Chance?

The simple answer seems to be no, but with what we’ve seen happen the past few weeks you can never say never.

Urban hasn’t exactly been the best Catholic over the past few months in Jacksonville (never have a few too many in your own steakhouse…), but he does have a history at the school having been the WR coach from 1996-2000.

With the Notre Dame job possibly opening, this might be the second thing to fall into Urban Meyer’s lap this year.

— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) November 30, 2021

With his transgressions off the field and struggles in Jacksonville, it’s hard to imagine him getting any P5 job – especially Notre Dame.

The next tier of candidates also include Matt Campbell and Jeff Brohm, before getting in to some highly paid and experienced coordinators. Campbell, in a wild twist, may end up having to stick at Iowa State after a disappointing season following his 2020 breakthrough. Irish Illustrated has reported he’s not seen as a candidate that moves the needle.

While Brohm has had relative success at Purdue and is a fantastic play caller, he would also likely be viewed as an underwhelming hire.

Until we hear otherwise from AD Jack Swarbrick, this is a two-man race between Freeman and Fickell – with Freeman the clubhouse leader.