Recruiting Responsibility

Ohio Counties: Preble, Miami, Montgomery, Champaign, Delaware, Franklin, Licking, Clark, Greene, Madison

Secondary Assignments: Floater -- West of Mississippi River

It did not take long for former Ohio State standout Marcus Freeman to make an impact coaching Kent State’s linebackers under head coach Darrell Hazell.

In his first year as an assistant coach, Freeman worked closely with junior college transfer linebacker C.J. Malauulu.  Malauulu was a second team All-Mid-American Conference selection after finishing second on the team with 83 tackles in 2011. He was also named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week after leading both sides with 12 tackles at Ohio.

Junior linebacker Luke Batton also had a breakout season for Kent State under Freeman’s guidance. Batton led the team with 102 tackles in 2011 and earned Second Team All-MAC recognition. Freeman’s linebacking corps was a staple of consistency for the MAC’s top-ranked defense in conference-only games. The Golden Flashes also led the MAC in total red zone defense and pass efficiency defense in conference-only games. 

Freeman spent the 2010 campaign on the Ohio State football staff as the defensive graduate assistant. The Buckeyes went 12-1, winning the Sugar Bowl and a share of the Big Ten title.

A four-year letterman for OSU from 2004-08, Freeman earned second team all-conference recognition while helping the Buckeyes to four Big Ten titles, three Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowls and two trips to the national championship game. Second on the squad as a senior with 84 tackles, he ended his career with 268 career stops.

One of three national finalists for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Bobby Bowden Award, Freeman was also a nominee for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS, Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) Sportsmanship and Wuerffel Trophy awards.

Freeman, who played in the Senior Bowl, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, and spent time with the Bears, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans before a medical condition ended his pro career.

A 2007 Ohio State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in sport and leisure studies, he earned Academic All-Big Ten and College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors.  In 2011, he earned a master’s degree in sports management from OSU. A Parade All-America honoree, Freeman graduated from Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio.

Freeman and his wife Joanna, who is an Otterbein graduate, have two daughters, Bria and Siena, and a son, Vincent.