While the Fighting Irish are preparing for the Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Notre Dame made an announcement about head coach Marcus Freeman. Freeman has officially been named the George Munger Coach of the Year. "Leading by example," Notre Dame captioned the post about Freeman.

Notre Dame and Penn State have traveled shockingly similar paths to reach this year's College Football Playoff semifinal. Both are amongst the sports blue blood class of schools, both have struggled to find any kind of national success in recent decades,

Notre Dame will be without a tight end as it sits two wins away from its first national championship in 36 years.