Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman recalls that time Cam Heyward knocked out his teeth
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman recalls that time Cam Heyward knocked out his teeth
It was a cold 36-degree fall day in Columbus on Nov. 27, 2010. The Ohio State Buckeyes were up by 10 over the Michigan Wolverines in "The Big Game."
Marcus Freeman, now one of the highest-paid head coaches in college football (Notre Dame), was a graduate assistant coaching defensive lineman for his former Buckeyes team. Cam Heyward was a beast of a tackle and had made a bruising tackle on Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on his way to six tackles on the day.
After the play, which forced an incompletion and turnover on downs, 320-pound Heyward blasted off the field to chest bump his coach. And somehow, post-congratulatory gesture, Freeman ended up with fewer teeth than when it started.
Freeman had a good laugh, recalling the split-second moment with Coffee & Sports host Dee Chambers.
"I don't know if I had a concussion or something," Freeman said, having not remembered exactly what happened at the time. "I remember the first thing coach [Jim Tressel] said to me was, 'Hey, I don't care about your teeth, you gotta keep coaching."
In a separate 2024 interview on Tressel's "It's All About the Team" podcast, Freeman explained how he stumbled backward, realizing he lost a tooth and chipped another, and crawled around on the field looking for it.
"It's a funny joke that me and Cam have. But I had to replace 'em, get 'em fixed," Freeman told Chambers.
Heyward never did reimburse him for the dental bill, but the Buckeyes clobbered the Wolverines 37-7 that day. And I guess that's all that matters.
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