The winner of Thursday's semifinal will become the first Black head coach to advance its team to a national title game.

Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman and Penn State's James Franklin are aware they are on the brink of making history in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl next Thursday.

The numbers tell part of the story: Freeman is 32-9 at Notre Dame, while Franklin is 101-41 at Penn State. But in locker rooms and living rooms, they're writing another story. In a sport where only 12% of head coaches are Black, Franklin and Freeman aren't just winning games — they're kicking down doors.