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Report: Bears Want to Interview Marcus Freeman

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Bears reportedly want to interview Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman for their head coaching vacancy.

Coach Freeman’s Irish are preparing for the National Championship against Ohio State in one week, on the 20th, and Coach Freeman has no experience coaching in the NFL at any point in his career.

Pelissero described it as “obviously unlikely” that Coach Freeman would would entertain any NFL interest, including the Bears before the game next Monday.

Coach Freeman recently signed an extension which secures him with Notre Dame for another four seasons that locks him in with the University for at least six more seasons and makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the country.

The Athletic: Raiders Have “Zero Interest” in Coach Deion Sanders

After a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Saturday that shared that Coach Deion Sanders had “very strong interest” in the Las Vegas Raiders coaching opening, Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic shared a follow-up report that the Raiders have “zero interest” in Coach Sanders.

Tafur and Reed’s report shares that there is “zero interest” from the Raiders in hiring him, according to their league sources, and rather that this is “agents using the stubbornly quiet Raiders for leverage.”

Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame’s Flu Outbreak and Depth

In the days leading up to the Orange Bowl, there were reports that Notre Dame was dealing with an outbreak of the flu in the locker room.

The bug mainly affected backups and special teams members according to reports, but with some time between the Orange Bowl and the National Championship there are concerns about it continuing to spread, but Coach Freeman is not overly concerned.

“I’m sure every school – Ohio State’s probably dealing with it too. It’s a virus that has really – I think, probably over half of our team has gotten it already, so I don’t think it will have an impact on this week’s game,” Coach Freeman shared.

Coach Freeman also said on ESPN’s College GameDay Friday, “you think about now, you’re into game … 15 or 16, and you’re going to have to have depth. You’re going to have to have guys that might not have been starting at the start of the year, but you’re going to count on them to make big plays in meaningful games. You don’t know when your number’s going to be called.”

Notre Dame LT Anthonie Knapp OUT for National Championship

Notre Dame LT Anthonie Knapp will miss the National Championship against Ohio State, according to Coach Marcus Freeman.

Knapp suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of the Orange Bowl, later being ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Coach Freeman shared the true freshman LT will miss the game, because, “he had a high ankle sprain and won’t be able to make it back.”

South Dakota Transfer EDGE Mi’Quise Grace Commits to Kentucky

South Dakota transfer EDGE Mi’Quise Grace commimtted to Kentucky out of the portal yesterday.

Grace was one of the top defensive players in the portal still available and is an impressive player as an FCS All-American.

Grace comes to Kentucky with 2 years of eligibility remaining and committed to the Wildcats over his other finalist programs, Mississippi State and Georgia.

In 2024, Grace finished with 64 tackles, 18.5 TFLs, 9.5 sacks, 3 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. Aside from being an All-American in 2024, he was also Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year.

According to the On3 portal rankings, he ranks 81st nationally and 9th at the EDGE position for players in the portal.

Appalachian State Transfer WR Kaedin Robinson Signs with UCLA

App State transfer WR Kaedin Robinson has signed with UCLA out of the transfer portal after a productive 2024 with the Mountaineers.

Robinson joins his former quarterback, Joey Aguilar, who also transferred to UCLA this offseason.

In 2024, Robinson finished with 53 catches for 840 yards and 2 touchdowns. He has career totals of 148 catches for 2,194 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Because of playing in JUCO, how many years of eligibilty Robinson has might become a moving target, but it looks like he has one year of eligibility remaining.

Robinson ranks 86th nationally and 22nd at the WR position according to the On3 transfer portal rankings.

Drew Allar on His Growth as a Leader, Quarterback

Drew Allar reflected on this past season, sharing, “I learned a lot about myself, and I think it’s a credit to the coaching staff for just allowing me to be me. I think I grew a lot, on the field, off the field.”

Allar is returning for the 2025 season, hoping to build off of a CFP Semifinal appearance. In talking about what he is looking forward to in 2025, Allar shared he is, “just looking forward to continuing to grow, learn more about myself, get better in any way I can – on the field, off the field. So just looking for the opportunity. Definitely going to learn from this. But yeah, just going to learn from it and take it on the chin right now.”

Coach Deion Sanders on First Team Without Shedeur or Shilo: I Can Just Be A Coach

Colorado Coach Deion Sanders held his first team meeting without sons Shedeur or Shilo there, as both are off to the NFL Draft for 2025.

In the meeting, Coach Sanders shared, “it’s an honor and a privilege to be standing before you. It’s, uh – I can’t explain how happy and how thoughtful and thankful I am for this day. I’ve been praying about this day. I’ve been anticipating this day. You’ve got to understand this is emotional for me. This is the first day I’ve been up here without two knuckleheads in here.”

Coach Sanders continued, “this is the first day I’m coaching without my boys, which is a pleasure and an honor for me. So now I could just be a coach. I don’t have to be no dad and I like that, and I love that. I’m looking back. Shilo told me I was going to get mad at him for not being in the meeting today knowing he not supposed to be in the meeting today. I feel like I’m going to treat somebody in here or a multitude of y’all in here like you were sons because I love y’all just that much because you could’ve chosen anybody but you chose us and I feel like you chose me.”

Alabama Transfer DB King Mack Commits to Return to Penn State

Alabama transfer DB King Mack has committed to return back to Penn State yesterday.

Mack played in all 13 games for Alabama last year, but only recorded 14 tackles. Prior to transferring to Alabama, Mack spent 2023 with Penn State where he finished with 3 tackles.

Mack comes back to Penn State with 2 years of eligibility remaining. Mack had originally committed to Penn State in the 2023 cycle as one of the Top 100 players in the class, ranking 93rd nationally.

Since then, however, his lack of overall production has cause his rating to drop from 94.43 as a high school recruit, to 91.58 in the transfer portal last year, to 88.82 in the transfer portal this year. He ranks 224th nationally and 19th at the safety position in the transfer portal this offseason.

Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry Excited About Trajectory of Hokies’ Program

Virginia Tech Coach Brent Pry recently shared that he is excited about the trajectory of the program following the loss to Minnesota in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Coach Pry said, “I’m excited about the guys returning. I’m excited about the class we signed. I’m excited about the transfer portal. We’re a much better team today than we were last year at this time. We’re just closer in so many areas, whether it’s in our locker room, whether it’s on the field, whether it’s depth. We’re just in a better place. I thought this bowl prep, it gave me confidence in that watching these young guys and what they did, how they worked and practice habits. There’s a lot of good things.”

Other Commitments/Decommitments

Unrated ATH Elijah Hunter commits to Middle Tennessee

2026 Unrated IOL Jojo White commits to Syracuse