Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman Among Names To Watch For Giants’ HC Job

Dianna Russini reports that the Giants have a list of five candidates for their upcoming head coaching search, including Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman.

The list also includes Packers DC Jeff Hafley, Colts DC Lou Anarumo, Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, and Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak.

Russinni adds that she expects Freeman will receive interest from other NFL teams, despite his current contract running through 2030. ESPN’s Dan Graziano has also mentioned Freeman as a possibility for the Giants.

Freeman, 39, played linebacker at Ohio State and was drafted by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. However, he was cut as a rookie and never appeared in an NFL game. 

He transitioned into coaching and had stops at Ohio State, Kent State, and Purdue before landing at Cincinnati as the defensive coordinator. From there, he joined Notre Dame as the defensive coordinator in 2021 and was promoted to head coach the following season. 

In four years at Notre Dame, Freeman has a record of 40-12 with two bowl appearances, one College Football Playoff berth, and a finish as national runner-ups in 2024. 

Per SI.com’s Conor Orr, Hafley is thought to be one of the top candidates for the vacancy and is considered a “heavy favorite” for the job. Hafley interviewed for the Jets HC vacancy last offseason before they ultimately hired Aaron Glenn.

Orr also expects Anarumo to be a strong candidate for the Giants’ job after previously interviewing there. According to Josina Anderson, Anarumo is expected to receive strong consideration by the Giants for their head coaching vacancy this hiring cycle. Anderson says her source emphasized the connection between Anarumo and Giants GM Joe Schoen, as both were with the Dolphins at one point. Anarumo has interviewed for the Giants’ coaching vacancy in the past and is from Staten Island. 

Hafley, 46, began his coaching career at WPI back in 2011. From there, he worked for Albany, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers before taking his first NFL coaching job with the Buccaneers as their assistant defensive backs coach

Hafley had stints with the Browns and 49ers before becoming the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2019. Boston College hired him as their head coach the following year and he held the position until Green Bay hired him as their defensive coordinator before the 2024 season.

In 2025, the Packers’ defense ranked No. 5 in fewest yards allowed, No. 6 in fewest points allowed, No. 9 in fewest rushing yards allowed, and No. 7 in fewest passing yards allowed.

Anarumo, 59, began his coaching career at Wagner back in 1989 as their RB coach. He worked for a few universities before taking his first NFL coaching job with the Dolphins in 2012 as their DB coach. 

The Giants hired Anarumo as their DB coach in 2018 but he left the following season to take the defensive coordinator job with the Bengals. Anarumo was with the Bengals from 2019 to 2024 as their defensive coordinator.

After being let go by Cincinnati, Anarumo was hired by the Colts as DC

In 2025, the Colts’ defense ranks No. 21 in yards allowed, No. 9 in points allowed, No. 26 in passing yards allowed, and No. 7 in rushing yards allowed.

Kingsbury, 46, was hired as the Texas Tech head coach back in 2013 and spent six years in the position before he was fired. USC hired him as their offensive coordinator, but he resigned from the job after just a month after receiving interest from the NFL. The Cardinals subsequently hired him. 

After four seasons in Arizona, Kingsbury was let go and returned to USC as the quarterback coach. In 2024, the Commanders hired him as their offensive coordinator.

During his six seasons at Texas Tech, Kingsbury led them to a record of 35-40 (46.7 percent), which included three bowl game appearances.

For his NFL head coaching career, Kingsbury led the Cardinals to an overall record of 26-33-1 in four seasons with one playoff appearance.

Kubiak, 38, played four years of college football at Colorado State before entering the coaching ranks in 2010 at Texas A&M as a quality control coach. He joined the Vikings in 2013 as an assistant WR coach, spent a year at Kansas as its WR coach, and joined the Broncos in 2016 as an offensive assistant. 

Kubiak joined his father, Gary Kubiak, with the Vikings in 2019 as Minnesota’s QB coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2021. He was not retained when the team fired HC Mike Zimmer and returned to the Broncos as their QB coach. 

From there, the 49ers hired Kubiak last offseason as their passing game coordinator. He joined the Saints as their offensive coordinator last February.

In 2024, the Saints’ offense ranked No. 21 in yards, No. 24 in points scored, No. 14 in rushing yards, and No. 23 in passing yards. 

We’ll have more on the Giants’ HC vacancy as the news is available.