Notre Dame’s football program begins a new era Saturday when the Fighting Irish face Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl and is led by new head coach Marcus Freeman.

In a sudden turn of events Brian Kelly, who had been head coach for 12 years and holds the ND coaching record for the most wins, left abruptly for LSU and the money - reportedly $90-plus million spread over 10 years. Kelly will be missed by some Irish fans and not so much by others, including this writer.

I wrote many times Kelly would never win a national title at ND, and now his departure makes that a sure thing. Some players who he recruited will be impacted by his leaving, in fact, some recruits of the 2022 class withdrew their commitments to the Irish. But overall, the class was left in good enough shape to finish in the top 5 in the country. The 2023 class is already rated in the top 5 through the early going.

Freeman brings youth and a lot of energy to the Irish program. He was only in his first year with the Irish in 2021 and his presence was felt in a very positive way. After his defense started slowly, it improved as the season went on, which is something you want to see. But his energy also spread to the recruiting trail and he became one of the top recruiters in the country and certainly was a major plus for the Irish.

But he is still a first-ever head coach facing a Oklahoma State team with a solid 11-2 record and ranked 9th in the country - four spots behind the fifth-ranked Irish.

Freeman will have more pressure on him than a normal debuting head coach because of the school he is coaching and the circumstances of his elevation from defensive coordinator to the head coach of a storied football program.

Freeman was able to keep most of the present coaching staff with him at least through the bowl game. The only notable departure from the present staff is Brian Polian, assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, who will join Kelly at LSU.

Key members of the coaching staff returning are offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and veteran defensive line coach Mike Elston.

Freeman is a Ohio State graduate who played linebacker. Ironically, Ohio State will be his first regular season opponent as the Irish the 2022 season in Columbus on Sept. 4. Freeman’s pro career included stints with the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texas. He then was going to sign with the Indianapolis Colts but a medical examination revealed he had an enlarged heart valve which ended his playing career. He then began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. He then made stops at Kent State, Purdue and Cincinnati before coming to Notre Dame.

Today the young Irish offensive line, which showed steady improvement during the season, will be tested by the Cowboys. Oklahoma State’s defense is among the best in the country. The Cowboys lead the nation in sacks per game, 4.23; tackles to loss, 8.5 per game and is fifth in rushing defense at 91.2 per game.

The Cowboys 11 wins have come against Missouri State, 23-16; Tulsa, 28-23; Boise State, 21-20; Kansas State, 31-20; Baylor, 24-14; Texas, 32-24; Kansas, 55-3; West Virginia, 24-3; TCU, 63-17; Texas Tech, 23-0; and Oklahoma, 37-33.

The two losses were a regular season game to Iowa State, 24-21; and a rematch with Baylor in the conference title game, 21-16.

This will be the first meeting between Notre Dame and Oklahoma State.

The game has a 1 p.m. start, about. 1:10 p.m. kickoff, and will be televised nationally by ESPN.

IRISH NOTES ... Two top Irish players - running back Kyren Williams and defensive back Kyle Hamilton - announced earlier they would be skipping the bowl game to prepare for thee 2022 NFL draft. ND has been without Hamilton since the USC game and it appears the newly formed secondary is handling the loss of Hamilton. Williams’ departure will be a bigger challenge for ND. However, backup freshman Logan Diggs, played in seven games this season and has done a good job for the Irish. He and junior Chris Tyree and freshman, Audric Estime, will handle the running attack for ND. But another hit in the Williams loss is his receiving ability. He was one of the top receivers for the Irish and none of the three I mentioned have had many opportunities to show if they can be a receiver of his caliber ... The Irish might be looking to bring in some grad transfers next year, including a quarterback. The only returning signal callers for the Irish next season are junior to be Drew Pyne, sophomore to be Tyler Buchner, sophomore to be Ron Powlus III and incoming freshman Steve Angeli. Angeli signed with ND about a week ago and will enroll at ND in January. He is a three-star QB from Oradel (NJ) Catholic High School. Powlus hasn’t dressed for a game this season due to injuries. Pyne and Buchner both have playing time this year behind started Jack Coan. Pyne and Buchner will enter the spring drills as the top two candidates for the starting position unless another QB emerges from the pack ... ND is a two-point favorite today. A win would certainly have them finish in the top 5 in the country. There are a lot of questions for the Irish today - mainly because of Freeman moving into the head coach position. He has plenty of experience as an assistant coach, all on the defensive side of the field. He will have to rely on Rees to pretty much run the show on offense while he continues to lead the defense. But major play decisions in the game will come down to him. He appears to have certainly won over the football team with his aggressive style and positive attitude. In fact, after Kelly left, team leaders immediately let it be known to the Notre Dame administration that they wanted Freeman to get the job. Today, is the first look we’ll get to see if the choice was correct. My pick Saturday is ND.