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ATLANTA — Somewhere on the field Monday evening inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis will roam the field, searching for a fellow Buckeye legend. He’ll shake his best friend’s hand, embrace him with a hug and remind him how proud he is of his friend’s accomplishments.
Their exchange will be briefer than usual, but that’s the nature of the business when coaching opposite teams with a national championship trophy on the line — even if he was in your wedding party. Making matters more complicated? That former Buckeye and best bud is Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. He’ll lead the Irish (14-1) against the Buckeyes (13-2) in the College Football Playoff national championship Monday night.
“To be honest, you just want to get to the end of the game and move on,” Laurinaitis said. “There are real emotions you can’t avoid with it all but it’s also an awesome blessing.
“How many people get to say they’re going against their really good friend in the natty?”
Their journey to Atlanta is 20 years in the making. It’s filled with triumphs and heartbreaks on the field, a few video game sessions and at least two trips to WrestleMania. But before they were friends, they were just two fresh faces in a legendary room of linebackers led by All-Americans A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter.
“I just remember the randomness of the room,” Hawk said. “We were all very close. We lifted every day, every morning and after practice, and hung out when we weren’t at football. You don’t really realize it until you’re done and look back years later at how special that core group really was.”
That 2005 linebacker room featured several national champions from the 2002 season, a pair of future sports media personalities (Hawk and…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/hes-always-been-the-same-guy-notre-dame-coach-marcus-freemans-stoic-style-traces-back-to-ohio-state-roots/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-01-19 18:43:00
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