Black head coaches to make history in CFP semifinal showdown

The Orange Bowl lights will blaze against Miami’s night sky while James Franklin and Marcus Freeman pace the sidelines Thursday, both focused on the same goal. 

The winner of this College Football Playoff semifinal (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) will advance to the Jan. 20 national championship game, where they’ll face the winner of Friday night’s semifinal between Ohio State and Texas. Thursday night’s Orange Bowl winner will also make history, as either Franklin or Freeman will become the first Black head coach to reach an FBS national championship football game.

Franklin of No. 6-seeded Penn State (13-2) and Freeman of No. 7 Notre Dame (13-1) are far more than competitors. They are pioneers, shattering one of the sport’s last enduring barriers in a season already defined by redemption and resilience.

Their paths to Miami, however, couldn’t be more different.

Franklin’s decade-plus-long tenure at Penn State is a study in persistence, as he has led the program from NCAA sanctions to national contention. Since 2014 at Penn State, he has a 101-41 record, claimed a Big Ten title and guided his team to success as much through relationships as results.

“I don’t usually talk about this publicly,” Franklin told the 24/7 College football podcast in 2019, “but my goal is to be the first African-American football coach to win a college national championship. That’s something that’s very historic.”

Meanwhile, Freeman’s rise reads like a Hollywood script.

The son of an Air Force veteran, Freeman was thrust into the spotlight as Notre Dame’s head coach in 2021, stumbling through three straight losses to start his tenure after succeeding Brian Kelly as head coach. Critics questioned if he could handle the pressure of leading one of college football’s most storied programs.

But Freeman turned adversity into fuel.

After a shocking early-season loss to Northern Illinois this season —making Notre Dame the first AP top-five team to fall to a Mid-American Conference opponent — he didn’t just regroup. He transformed. Twelve straight wins, including two convincing CFP victories, stamped the Fighting Irish’s ticket to Miami.

Freeman’s authenticity has defined his success. “At the end of the day, you’ve still got to be yourself,” Freeman told Bryan Fischer of Sports Illustrated. “I can’t be anybody other than Marcus Freeman.”

The journeys of Franklin and Freeman converge Thursday, but the weight of this moment extends far beyond the Orange Bowl. 

College football has long lagged in leadership diversity. According to Carl Reed of cbssports.com, of the 134 FBS programs, only 16 employed Black head coaches before the 2024 season — a sobering statistic in a sport where 48.9% of the players are Black.

The historical echoes add another layer. Seventy-eight years ago, Penn State refused to play a segregated Miami team, a defiant stand against racial injustice that eventually birthed the iconic chant “We Are Penn State.” Now, Franklin and his Nittany Lions return to South Florida to write a new chapter in that legacy.

This game, however, isn’t just about breaking barriers. It’s about how these men have redefined leadership.

Franklin’s openness with his players has fostered a culture of trust and accountability, while Freeman has built a team that thrives on collective purpose. They’ve shown that authenticity and ambition aren’t opposing forces — they’re the keys to success.

When the confetti falls in Miami, this game’s result will linger far beyond the field. Somewhere in America, young coaches will watch Franklin and Freeman under the brightest lights and may see their own futures take shape.

One coach will move on for a chance to hoist the ultimate trophy. But together, they’ve already changed the game forever.