Notre Dame may not be able to celebrate victory over Ohio State, but head coach Marcus Freeman is celebrating spiritual victory after recently converting to Catholicism. Freeman took over the head coach position after the team’s former head coach, Brian Kelly, left for Louisiana State University. Despite not being Catholic himself, one of the first things Freeman established was having the team attend mass before each home game. “I remember being a recruit and coming to a Notre Dame football game – I was in high school – and watching the team come out of the basilica for pregame Mass, and I thought that was the coolest thing. I remember seeing movies about it.,” he said of the decision.  “[W]hat better time is there to go have Mass? What better time to be able to really be on the edge of your seat to get every word that comes out of the priest’s mouth and to be as close to God as you can?” he told The National Catholic Register. He later added “That’s important for me. I want our guys to wonder about what it means to embrace Jesus Christ.”

Right before his first season began in 2022, Freeman took the big step of converting to Catholicism after having been involved in Korean and Christian churches. Freeman called it a “family decision” since his wife and six children are already Catholic. His wife, Joanna, has been credited with helping in his decision. He encourages a culture of faith amongst his players. “Our players have Bible study. I have a strong faith and … you have to trust beyond having evidence, trust beyond knowing, which is another motto for having faith. We’re not shy about it. They’re not shy about it, and it’s important for us,” he said. Speaking after the team’s disappointing loss, he gave credit to Ohio’s talent. “Obviously tough moment, tough outcome. There’s reasons why we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. Credit to Ohio State and their ability to execute on both sides of the ball. … We obviously didn’t play the way we needed to get the outcome we wanted, but as I said to the guys in the locker room, there’s not many words to say when everybody is hurting,” he said.

The team’s quarterback, Riley Leonard, has also been open about his faith. Even after the team’s loss, the first thing he did postgame was praise God. “Before I answer your question, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me the opportunity to play in this game,” he said during a postgame interview. He acknowledged the faith of both teams. “Us and Ohio State are the two teams that praise Jesus Christ the most, and I think that we strengthen each other in our faith through coming to this game and competing against each other,” he said. “I’m happy to see godly men come out on top no matter what the circumstances. I’m happy to praise Jesus in the lowest of the lows, as well.”