Tag: Jack Swarbrick

College Football Morning Announcements: April 6, 2020

What happened yesterday in college football and Notre Dame football news? Nick Shepkowski fills you in on today’s episode of the podcast.

Good morning!  Time again for your College Football Morning Announcements with Nick Shepkowski.

Notre Dame fans are aware of the huge news that came, both good and bad, in the recruiting world Tuesday.  I break that down in the second episode of the CFB Morning Announcements Podcast.

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Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick spoke on Tuesday as well and shared his thoughts on Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland while also discussing if the Irish would be able to play a full schedule in 2020.

And finally – some old rivals in college football are finally getting back together again (in 2025).  We discuss that and share some old rivalries we’d like to see return again soon.

Take a listen, hit subscribe and please share with those college football fans around you.  We’ll have fun with this podcast and make it your source for college football and Notre Dame athletics information each morning.

Link:

25 Games that were most influential in growth of spread offense – Oklahoma appeared in 20% of these games!

Jack Swarbrick Confident Notre Dame Will Play Full Season

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday that he has confidence the Irish will play a full 2020 season.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told reporters in a Zoom news conference Tuesday that he has confidence the Irish will play a full 2020 season. College football is in a state of a limbo overall thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in the event of a shortened schedule, it’s possible that Power Five commissioners could decide their teams only will play within their conferences. Because the Irish remain independent for football, this would cost them 10 of their 12 scheduled opponents.

Notre Dame’s 2020 schedule includes games against six ACC teams, one apiece from the Big Ten and SEC and its annual meetings with Pac-12 teams USC and Stanford. An 11th game, the annual contest against Navy which currently is scheduled to open the season in Dublin, Ireland, also could be in jeopardy if non-Power Five conferences also choose to play conference games only. Obviously, this arrangement would decimate the Irish of their competition, and who knows what would happen after that?

In his regular conversations with the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners, which come with being part of the College Football Playoff management committee, Swarbrick said he has pushed for a conference-only model “plus one”. This would maintain such traditional rivalries as Clemson-South Carolina and Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio). Regardless, he believes the committee’s collaboration and communication gives college football “a chance” to develop a policy to bring the sport back.

There are many hurdles to clear to have the season everyone wants, but Swarbrick doesn’t sound willing to allow his football program to be left out in the cold. In a worst-case scenario, Irish fans will circle back to this and point out an empty promise. However, even the most conference-loyal leaders have to admit that college football simply can’t exist without Notre Dame. It’s only fair to give the Irish just as much a chance to compete as everyone else.

College football without fans? Thanks, but no thanks

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick went on Finebaum Show to discuss possibility of 2020 CFB season being played with no fans due to coronavirus

On Tuesday, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick spoke on The Paul Finebaum Show about the effects of COVID-19 on the 2020 college football season. 

Swarbrick said:

“I don’t think you can conduct a season that way, I think spectators are too central to the experience.”

Now, although Swarbrick may have concerns more on the financial side of things, he is still right.

As we college football fans well know, there is nothing quite like a Saturday home game.

The atmosphere is the most electric you will feel across the sports world. 

Think of some of the most exciting games in sports that you look forward to each year. To name a few, the CFP, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Masters, etc…

Compare how it feels watching those events on TV to being in the Classic City for a top-10 matchup on a fall Saturday. 

Picture that moment as Dawg Nation points to the upper-deck southwest corner of Stanford Stadium. 

Goosebumps, right?

Can you imagine a year of college football without those incredible feelings of excitement and loyalty?

Like when the lone trumpeter plays the Battle Hymn of the Republic as 93 thousand people stand silent in respect, while the late Larry Munson narrates the history of UGA football. 

Or when the third quarter buzzer sounds and Sanford is lit up with lights during the Red Coat’s performance of Krypton.

The single greatest sports experience of my life was last fall, when I watched a sell-out crowd raise their hands in unison for the fourth quarter of Georgia vs. Notre Dame.

Would a season with no fans level the playing field? Sure it would. But that’s not the point. The fact is, years and years of tradition and success have earned these bigger programs like Georgia the right to play in front of their hostile fans that make life tough on the opposition.

I’ve been to some crazy road games. The most electric atmosphere I’ve ever witnessed in person was actually in Williams-Brice Stadium when Georgia got blown out by South Carolina in Columbia. The fans 100% won the Gamecocks that game, and though I left feeling angry and fearful that Georgia’s season was over, I would not have traded that experience for anything.

That is what college football is about, unity. Thousands of people coming together, regardless of background, to support their team to victory.

Something that we will miss if football is played without fans in attendance…

I would rather have the season postponed, than have to watch a game without those traditions that I have grown to love. 

Could you accept a football season without fans? 

Athletic Subscribers: Would You Like to Take a Survey?

We’ve found ourselves desperate to do something, anything, as we’re shut down for at least the next month and probably longer.

We’ve found ourselves desperate to do something, anything, as we’re shut down for at least the next month and probably longer. If you subscribe to The Athletic, there’s one activity you might enjoy. Notre Dame football beat writer Pete Sampson has put together a fan survey for those who bleed green, gold and blue.

For the next week, you will be able to answer 20 questions pertaining to the football program. Assuming we’ll have a season, the 2020 Irish could be a team to remember, if not just outside that tier. What better time than now to share your thoughts in a (not really) scientific manner?

The survey begins by asking you to rate how you feel about the football program, Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick, respectively, on a scale of 1 to 5. From there, you get to answer multiple-choice questions such as your favorite assistant coach, your favorite player from the Kelly era and whether the Irish are recruiting well enough to win a national championship. The survey concludes with some free-form questions about the biggest surprise during Kelly’s tenure, your favorite all-time player and how you would describe yourself as a Notre Dame fan.

This should be fun, and it could give insight to a top beat reporter on the type of people that cheer on the Irish. Remember when you got surveys in college and high school for a student’s project on some random topic you couldn’t care less about? This is the opposite. This is enjoyable, and we need something like this right now.