Jack Swarbrick to step down in 2024

[forkbeard3777]

I seriously doubt he was the cheapskate. Any perceived cheapness probably came from above him.

You may be very well correct. That said, I believe an AD with clout should be able to circumvent a stingy President or whomever is an obstacle.

 

[greyhammer90]

I seriously doubt he was the cheapskate. Any perceived cheapness probably came from above him.

No way man he just sat on all the gold like a dragon. BK was like "Jack please, the Gug is so old and we're having to feed the players in the dorm public restrooms!", and I heard Jack laughed in his face and then told BK he was suspending Kevin Austin that season just for fun.

He's a bad guy, and ND will be better off without him.

 

[Luckylucci]

Maybe my favorite thing about this board is that when big news breaks, I can come here for very good discussion but also laugh out loud humor.

 

[zelezo vlk]

That was the BK burner account incident, right?

Oh maybe that was it, idk it's been a year and a half, but Jack stepping down in the near future was part of it

 

[notredomer23]

This quote was shared on BGI in an interview Bevacqua did in 2020 with Swarbrick:

Bevacqua: “If we’re not progressive and smart, we’re gonna wake up in a couple years and feel like we own the corner record store. That’s gonna keep me on my toes. That’s the challenge I need."

Given NBC Sports NIL marketplace for ND athletes, would be nice to see ND innovate in this space rather than playing catchup.

 

[irishff1014]

I think there is some good and some bad.

The Kelly hire was the right move and as much as I don’t care for him he did help move the program in the right direction.

The stadium upgrade was great.

The Freeman hire was very good. But forcing Rees on him was bad.

Keeping Brey was a terrible mistake. Not getting the basketball teams better facilities bad.

Going to under armor was originally a good deal. Not his fault they have gotten lazy with their products.

The new practice facility was amazing. Wish he could have pulled more strings for the Gug.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

I think there is some good and some bad.

The Kelly hire was the right move and as much as I don’t care for him he did help move the program in the right direction.

The stadium upgrade was great.

The Freeman hire was very good. But forcing Rees on him was bad.

Keeping Brey was a terrible mistake. Not getting the basketball teams better facilities bad.

Going to under armor was originally a good deal. Not his fault they have gotten lazy with their products.

The new practice facility was amazing. Wish he could have pulled more strings for the Gug.

cant forget the ACC deal and basically preventing us from having to sit out of the 2020 season

 

[irishnd31]

Bevacqua... Awesome. A fun name for Notre Dame fans to butcher when they type it on IE .

 

[Rack Em]

Bevacqua... Awesome. A fun name for Notre Dame fans to butcher when they type it on IE .

"Notre Dame Athletic Director, Tom Bevis-aqua"

 

[Rack Em]

If this were the old site, I'd start a "Pete Bevacqua Revisited" thread and start collecting all the vbucks. But we don't have that anymore so what's the point of even reading this site?

 

[stlnd01]

I think there is some good and some bad.

The Kelly hire was the right move and as much as I don’t care for him he did help move the program in the right direction.

The stadium upgrade was great.

The Freeman hire was very good. But forcing Rees on him was bad.

Keeping Brey was a terrible mistake. Not getting the basketball teams better facilities bad.

Going to under armor was originally a good deal. Not his fault they have gotten lazy with their products.

The new practice facility was amazing. Wish he could have pulled more strings for the Gug.

If the “bad” mostly involves the basketball program, not football, Swarbrick did just fine.

 

[stlnd01]

Now the important question is the attitude of the man who replaces Jenkins.

This being Notre Dame, where there are only a small handful of CSC priests eligible and qualified for the job, I’d suspect the man who replaces Jenkins was involved in this decision.

 

[greyhammer90]

If this were the old site, I'd start a "Pete Bevacqua Revisited" thread and start collecting all the vbucks. But we don't have that anymore so what's the point of even reading this site?

Where else can you can read NDSean argue with IrishDrunk about LSU's SoS?

 

[Kingbish01]

Would have loved Scott Woodward or Joe Castiglione....But I guess this will do..lol

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think he's average at best and a cheapskate. Notre Dame can do a lot better.

Hiring Brian Kelly, stadium expansion and 2 Garth Brooks concerts alone make you better than average.

 

[Irish du Nord]

Would have loved Scott Woodward or Joe Castiglione....But I guess this will do..lol

Might as well hire Allen Pinkett, crime can’t be that bad on campus

 

[Old Man Mike]

Swarbrick will be 70 when he hands the job over. Not sure why anyone needs to imagine weird scenarios for retirement at that age.
Swarbrick graduated from ND magna cum laude (economics) ; there is no question that he is REALLY smart. He went on to get a
Stanford law degree.

It is my belief that he had a nearly impossible task to accomplish in his era, and that was because the absolute restriction was that
we had to remain independent in football, but try to survive everywhere else. He got us the next-to-impossible ACC deal in Olympic
sports and we've thrived there. He got us a separate special relationship with "B!G" ice hockey and we play with the big boys there.

Asking him to fix ND football (which is so good it almost doesn't need an overhaul beyond what Coach Kelly accomplished anyway),
and still be lumbered with the academic constrictions --- well, not within his job powers. My belief is that Football does about as good as possible within the constrictions and we have been two or three QBs (only) from battling on even terms with almost anyone most of this
last decade. Almost incredible in my mind. As to basketball, I view that as a recruiting failure that is also not in Swarbrick's job manual.
(I'm happy to be corrected on this, but this seems to lie on Brey not him.... and I generally LIKE Mike Brey, but wish I didn't have to hear
all the time: that coach of yours does good things with what he has to work with.)

Not sure given the higher ND restrictions how he could have made better moves, so, Jack, thanks for the big effort.

 

[Rack Em]

Where else can you can read NDSean argue with IrishDrunk about LSU's SoS?

OnlyFans?

 

[ulukinatme]

I think Jack's done a pretty good job navigating the waters and putting ND in a good position in all sports except maybe Men's Basketball. We'll see if Brey's exit changes anything. From a football perspective he's done a lot to bring the stadium up to modern times and increase the brand. We've also been fairly successful in his time here with a National Championship appearance, two Playoff invitations, and a number of 10+ winning seasons...better than the previous two decades of mediocrity from about '94-'2011.

 

[TheProspector]

If the “bad” mostly involves the basketball program, not football, Swarbrick did just fine.

The ACC having our away game football TV rights through the mid-2030s is/was a massive mistake by Jack that rarely gets brought up for some reason.

 

[Irish#1]

You may be very well correct. That said, I believe an AD with clout should be able to circumvent a stingy President or whomever is an obstacle.

I guess you're not familiar with the BoT. lol

 

[ulukinatme]

Wasn't '24 the rumored year that Jack was stepping down when stories started leaking about why BK left? Can't remember what one of his kids said exactly.

Yeah, the BK burner account. Maybe Jenkins will be stepping down too if this wasn't coincidence.

 

[Blazers46]

Brick leaving for a better gig at Penn High School or SB St Joe?

 

[Irish#1]

My only issue was Jack allowing Brey to stay as long as he did.

 

[Irishdrunk]

I seriously doubt he was the cheapskate. Any perceived cheapness probably came from above him.

Part of the problem that holds ND back from being a truly elite program. This off-season was a train wreck. Not figuring out NIL in a workable way for ND long ago shows less than stellar management. No thank you on giving him props.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

How many championship coaches did he hire? Legit question, because I am racking my mind thinking of all the coaches he hired.

He did pretty good job on updating the facilities, training table type stuff. Great fundraiser.

 

[NDQuebec]

Driskell heard it first, but had to confirm with a few sources before he announced it.

He must be out partying right now. In all seriousness, I believe, like several posters above, that he was underappreciated. Unlike Driskell, I firmly believe that no matter how the OC search was handled, Ludwig had a change of heart and would not have accepted the offer after returning to Utah and discussing all of this with his coaches, his family and the Utah admins. That had nothing to do with Swarbick. Flame away but I share Prister's opinion that he was not a bad AD, at least with respect to the football program.

 

[Irish#1]

Part of the problem that holds ND back from being a truly elite program. This off-season was a train wreck. Not figuring out NIL in a workable way for ND long ago shows less than stellar management. No thank you on giving him props.

You know for a fact that the NIL situation is due to Jack and not those he answers to? Jack was a key member of the group that turned Indy into a sports city. He knows you have to spend to be successful.

 

[BobbyMac]

You know for a fact that the NIL situation is due to Jack and not those he answers to? Jack was a key member of the group that turned Indy into a sports city. He knows you have to spend to be successful.

95% of the stuff the average ND message board fan blames on JS is really Jenkins / Admin / BOT's agenda being executed.

50% of the stuff the knowledgeable ND message board fan blames JS on is Jenkins / Admin / BOT's agenda being executed.

I have a life long friend who is a P5 AD and to see what is going on with ND and the unfolding late stages of the NCAA and the post NCAA world... through his eyes... is nothing like what gets reported or discussed on message boards.

Someday, JS's fingerprints will be all over the post NCAA world of college football

...and enjoy being in the B1G 24-28 side of the CFA cuz it's comin like Omar.

 

[forkbeard3777]

What was Swarbrick’s greatest accomplishment at ND?