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Notre Dame Coach Swats Away ESPN Reporter’s Race Question After Win: ‘Class Act’

Charlie Kirk Staff

01/12/2025

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Notre Dame Coach Swats Away ESPN Reporter’s Race Question After Win: ‘Class Act’

An ESPN reporter looked ridiculous after Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman swatted down her question about race after the team won the Orange Bowl.

His team will play in the National Championship game on January 20 against Ohio State, the same day as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“You are the first black head coach to go to a national championship game in college football,” ESPN reporter Molly McGrath said to the coach after the victory. “How much does this mean to you?”

“You know, I’ve said this before, I don’t ever want to take attention away from the team,” Freeman responded. “It is an honor, and I hope all coaches — minorities, black, Asian, white, it doesn’t matter — great people continue to get opportunities to lead young men like this.”

“This ain’t about me; this is about us,” the half-black and half-Korean coach said. “And we’re going to celebrate what we’ve done because it’s something special.

The coach received praise online for his response as the ESPN reporter was ridiculed.

“Terrible question but great response by Notre Dame head coach. Sports should bring people together not separate,” NFL legend Brett Favre said.

“Notre Dame just won its biggest game since 1988. How does @espn react? By focusing on one half of Marcus Freeman’s race. Freeman absolutely crushes his answer and says he hopes all coaches regardless of race get great opportunities like he did,” conservative commentator Clay Travis said.

The coach was asked a similar question this month by the press about the significance of being one of the two black coaches in the playoffs.

“It’s a reminder that you are a representation for many others — and many of our players that look the same way I do. Your color shouldn’t matter, and the evidence of your work should, but it takes everybody,” he said.

Freeman has also won support for having his players focus on God, as Notre Dame is a Catholic school.

“That’s important for me,” he said to the National Catholic Register in 2022. “I want our guys to wonder about what it means to embrace Jesus Christ.”

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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, a national student movement dedicated to empowering young people to promote the principles of free markets and limited government.

Charlie is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, which regularly ranks among the top-10 news shows on Apple podcast news charts, and is the host of the nationally syndicated daily radio show on the Salem Radio Network live from 12 - 3 PM ET.
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