Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua on football coach Marcus Freeman’s pact
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua plans to keep rewarding football coach Marcus Freeman with regular raises to ‘living, breathing’ contract.
This story has been updated with a statement from Notre Dame athletics.
Notre Dame Athletics is denying any physical contact occurred between head football coach Marcus Freeman and a New Prairie High School wrestling coach.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, the Tribune confirmed that a police report had been filed against Freeman stemming from an incident that took place Saturday, Jan. 3, at Mishawaka High School. The South Bend Tribune confirmed the news through MPD spokesman Sgt. Steven Headley.
“Vinny Freeman, head coach Marcus Freeman’s son, was verbally accosted during and after his wrestling match by a local wrestling coach,” the statement read. “Marcus and Joanna Freeman intervened and removed Vinny from the situation. At no point did Coach Freeman physically engage with anyone. We believe that the police report, which includes video evidence, fully exonerates Coach Freeman and makes clear these accusations are unfounded.”
The alleged incident involved Freeman and a New Prairie high school wrestling assistant coach, Chris Fleeger. Both were at the Al Smith Wrestling Invitational, with Freeman there to support his son, Vinny, a Penn High School senior, and Fleeger in a coaching capacity with the Cougars.
Fleeger filed a police report this past week accusing Freeman of battery. Mishawaka police investigated and turned over the completed report to the prosecutor’s office to determine if any charges will be filed. It is unknown how long that charging decision will take and if any charges will be filed at all.
The altercation allegedly took place after Vinny Freeman’s match against Hanover Central senior Israel Sinnott, which Vinny lost. As Vinny was escorted off the mat and out of the gym by Marcus and Penn head coach Brad Harper, Fleeger allegedly began exchanging words with the group.
As Marcus Freeman walked through the doorway into the hallway, physical contact allegedly occurred between Marcus Freeman and Fleeger, but police did not disclose the extent of the alleged contact. Once in the hallway, Fleeger and Marcus Freeman’s wife, Joanna, engaged in a shouting match before local law enforcement and Mishawaka school officials separated the two groups.
While the Freeman family was not officially asked to leave, they did so. Of the 112 athletes that reached the podium across the 14 weight classes, Vinny Freeman was one of just two not present.
Austin Hough is a sports editor within the Center for Community Journalism at USA Today Co., overseeing high school sports and Notre Dame athletics coverage for five Indiana newspapers. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @AustinRHough. Hough can be emailed at [email protected].
