There’s a history of Cincinnati influence in South Bend, including Kelly, who spent three seasons with the Bearcats before taking the Notre Dame job. A year before Kelly poached Freeman, he hired Bearcats defensive backs coach Mike Mickens, a Cincinnati alum who was a teammate of Freeman’s at Wayne High School outside of Dayton.

FOX Sports' Michael Cohen explains how Marcus Freeman constructed Notre Dame's roster and how the Fighting Irish are winning at such an elite level without a handful of five-star prospects.

Marcus Freeman was a former Ohio State star. Now the Notre Dame coach has to beat them in the national title game