When [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] announced that he would depart as Notre Dame athletic director in 2024, [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] didn’t expect it. In fact, that would be putting it mildly. In a discussion with NDInsider.com, Freeman was asked whether he knew the news was coming, and he said the following:
“No, I didn’t know (in advance). I knew at some point Jack Swarbrick was going to say, ‘This is it.’ And he’s told me that and (Notre Dame President) Father John (Jenkins) has told me at some point (in) this thing, ‘Hey, we’re getting to the end of our time here at Notre Dame.”
Freeman then added:
“I just did not expect it to be last week when we had this conversation. I was in complete shock.”
Freeman also said a few other things about Swarbrick, but you get the idea. Hopefully, after Swarbrick’s departure, he’ll have a good relationship with incoming athletic director [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag]. Perhaps then, he’ll be able to do everything he wants with the program and more. That’s not necessarily to say Swarbrick doesn’t do that, but there’s at least the hope that Bevacqua will give his coaches a little more freedom.
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