Prior to embarking on a head coaching career at Notre Dame that has him among the highest-paid head coaches in college football, Marcus Freeman was a solid linebacker at Ohio State, where he was once teammates and then a graduate assistant coach of Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
During their time together as teammates from 2007-08, Heyward and Freeman developed a relationship as two key defensive pieces for the Buckeyes. That relationship grew in 2010 when Freeman’s NFL career with the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills came to an end due to injury.
Freeman became a graduate assistant at OSU for the 2010 season under head coach Jim Tressel, and during that season, Heyward left a lasting impression on him.
Literally.
During “The Big Game” against Michigan that season in Columbus, Heyward ended up knocking Freeman’s teeth out, creating a memorable moment between the two.
“It is a a great story to this day, until my wife saw me,” Freeman said of the incident while appearing on Tressel’s podcast It’s All About The Team. “So it’s freezing cold. It’s Ohio State-Michigan game. It’s cold. Cam makes a huge play and as you said, I’m young and oh man, I gotta go chest bump him. We go up and I see him just coming. Cameron knows one speed, and that’s speed.
“And he comes, we chest bump. And I just remember stumbling and I felt my teeth. One tooth was gone, the other tooth was halfway chipped off. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.'”
Though it’s unclear what the exact play was that Heyward made leading to the chest bump, Heyward had six tackles in the 2010 37-7 win over Michigan. His biggest play was a pressure on a 4th and 8 against Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson that forced an incomplete throw and a turnover on downs.
Here is that play.
Though the celebration from Heyward running off the field is never shown, this was the most impactful play he made on the day.
Just one year removed from his playing days, it’s easy to understand why Freeman went in for a chest bump. He was, essentially, living through the players on the field and still had the juice and intensity for the big game, even as a graduate assistant.
The heat of the moment got to him, and his teeth ended up paying the price for it.
After stumbling backwards and realizing one tooth was gone and the other was chipped, Freeman started crawling around on the ground looking for his tooth.
“I remember I was looking for it. I was looking for it. And then I remember [current Wisconsin head coach] Luke Fickell getting on headset saying, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter. You gotta coach. We gotta coach. Let’s go!'” Freeman recalled. “And so, I didn’t get much sympathy.”
Freeman definitely didn’t get much sympathy, needing to move on from getting his teeth knocked out to continue coaching the team. After that 2010 season, Freeman moved on to Kent State, where he coached linebackers for two years, starting his upward trajectory in the coaching ranks, eventually landing the Notre Dame job in 2021.
Heyward, on the other hand, went on to be a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft after a great career at Ohio State and finds himself on a Hall of Fame path entering Year 14 in the NFL.
Check out the full episode with Freeman and Tressel below.
