We found out in early December former Ohio State linebacker and Purdue linebackers coach Marcus Freeman would follow his old coach, Luke Fickell, to Cincinnati.
Linebackers coach seemed like a good fit for Freeman, but it turns out Fickell had bigger plans for the 31-year-old.
Cincinnati named Freeman as its defensive coordinator Wednesday afternoon, along with Doug Phillips as special teams coordinator.
Welcome to the newest members of the #Bearcats coaching staff: @Marcus_Freeman1 & @fbcoachdp!
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) January 4, 2017
: https://t.co/UbYL94GjwV pic.twitter.com/NDkhMB9zD2
"When I talked to our team on the day I was hired, I promised them I would hire an outstanding staff who were not only great motivators and teachers of football, but also great men off the field," Fickell said in a university release.
"Marcus and Doug are the first two steps in making that promise a reality. They're both great men and coaches. I coached Marcus at Ohio State and he was later a part of our staff and I've coached with Doug and known him for a long time and they are great fits for Cincinnati. Their recruiting and coaching ties to the state of Ohio are very important to me because this is our home. This is our backyard where we can make the most impact on our roster and give our fans and supporters a team they can be proud of."
Freeman played at Ohio State from 2004-08 before a brief NFL career. He then served as a graduate assistant at OSU for a season before becoming the linebackers coach at Kent State from 2011-13. Freeman then joined Darrell Hazell's staff at Purdue, where he served as a linebackers coach until the end of the 2016 season.
