Notre Dame football head coach and Ohio State alum Marcus Freeman presumably has a lot of love for the Buckeyes, even now as a rival of the Big Ten program. That's why many Buckeyes fans were outraged when Freeman, hired by the Fighting Irish in December of 2021, seemingly took a shot at Ohio State when he said he regretted not joining Notre Dame over the Buckeyes during his college football career.

During an appearance on The Pivot podcast with former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark, Freeman clarified his apparent shot at the Buckeyes.

“I think about that article, that Player's Tribune, and you kind of do it that they interview you and they write it for you. You think that you are talking to Notre Dame fans. You are not thinking about anything else other than Notre Dame fans. And they asked ‘Why did you choose Notre Dame?' And I was like, ‘Oh, I made a mistake. I don't want to say no to Notre Dame twice.' And poor choice of words because that's all the people at Ohio State read was ‘You regret your decision to choose Ohio State.'”

The Notre Dame football head coach said it was “an eye-opening experience for him.” Freeman went on to explain that he was solely thinking about Fighting Irish fans with his response to why he chose to join the Notre Dame football program.

But he wasn't thinking about how Ohio State fans, who cheered him for three seasons from 2006 to 2008, would react to the comments.

Freeman made it clear that he wouldn't be where he is without his years with the Buckeyes.

And Notre Dame football, which went 9-4 and won a bowl game for the first time since 2019 last year, has Ohio State to thank.