Marcus Freeman, the head coach of Notre Dame, is currently under the spotlight as a police investigation unfolds, following accusations of battery at a high school wrestling match.

Freeman, whose annual earnings surpass $9 million and who has been considered for several NFL head coaching roles, was present at a wrestling event at Mishawaka High School on January 3 to support his son.

During the event, an alleged altercation occurred involving Freeman and Chris Fleeger, an assistant coach from New Prairie High School’s wrestling team. Fleeger has since filed a police report accusing Freeman of battery.

A statement addressing the incident explained, “Vinny Freeman, Coach Marcus Freeman’s son, faced verbal harassment during and after his wrestling match by a local wrestling coach.”

The statement continued, “Marcus and Joanna Freeman stepped in to remove Vinny from the situation. At no point did Coach Freeman physically engage with anyone. We are confident that the police report, along with video evidence, will fully clear Coach Freeman of these baseless allegations.”

Marcus Freeman is confident of being ‘fully exonerated’ after accusations of battery

It is alleged Freeman (left) and his wife Joanna (right) were involved in an incident while watching their son compete in a wrestling competition

Mishakawa Police is said to have passed the completed report to the prosecutor’s office to determine if any charges will be filed against the Notre Dame head coach. 

Vinny, 17, is a Penn High School senior and was competing for the wrestling team at the Al Smith Wrestling Invitational when the incident occurred.

Per the police report, it is alleged that Vinny lost his match against Hanover Central senior Israel Sinnott and was then escorted from the mat by his father Marcus and Penn head coach Brad Harper.

It is at that point that words were exchanged between the group and Fleeger, which then allegedly turned physical as Freeman walked into the hallway.

Police did not disclose the extent of the alleged physical contact, while it is also claimed that Freeman’s wife Joanna – Vinny’s mother – engaged in a shouting match with Fleeger, before law enforcement and school officials broke the two groups up.

While Freeman and his family were not asked to leave the premises, they did so, and Vinny was one of just two competing athletes not present on the podium from the 112 eligible. 

Freeman is not the first high-paid college football coach to find himself embroiled in off-field legal drama in recent months, after then-Michigan HC Sherrone Moore was fired and arrested on December 10.

Vinny Freeman, who recently committed to Cornell, was competing for Penn State

Freeman has seven children, six with his current wife Joanna (all are pictured above)

After an internal school investigation found evidence of him having an ‘inappropriate relationship with a staff member’, he was arrested on stalking and home invasion charges.

Moore is alleged to have threatened self-harm after forcing entry to the woman’s home and grabbing a set of kitchen utensils, before fleeing and later being arrested by police in the parking lot of a local church.

He has since been released on a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to be back in court later this month. 

Meanwhile, Freeman’s fame has skyrocketed since he became head coach of the Notre Dame football team in December 2021.

Sherrone Moore was arrested for stalking and home invasion after being fired by Michigan 

Moore is pictured with his wife Kelli, who has stuck with him despite his affair with a staffer 

He has improved the team each year, getting to a national championship in 2024, and he has been linked with several NFL head coaching roles over the past few months.

Perhaps the most intriguing was that of the New York Giants, but Freeman announced his intention to stay with the Fighting Irish in December.

‘2026… run it back,’ he posted on X, adding: ‘Go Irish.’

Sports Illustrated reported that he informed several interested NFL teams of his intentions, and also signed an improved contract in South Bend to put him in the ‘top tier’ of college football coaches.