A Notre Dame Football Blog
Jack Swarbrick has consistently put Notre Dame's football independence above all else. Even when faced with a daunting prospect of playoff expansion, a move that could have forced Notre Dame, yet again, into conference membership, he found an out. Sacrifices have to be made to protect the ND family. A playoff by may have been left at the scene of the crime, but Jack executed any thought that the Irish would need to flock to a conference to preserve title hopes. In doing so, Shane and I see ...
Spring practice has officially kicked off and the road to the Blue/Gold game has begun. Shane and I break down this first practice exactly how any long-time listener would expect that we would. Plus, we take a look at some interviews given by Jack Swarbrick and Brian Kelly in recent weeks. A lot of time is spent on BK's rather um...sudden change of heart and philosophy in this episode. In fact, this episode completely focuses on Notre Dame football this week. There's a lot to talk about and ...
What an unexpected year! No one should have been surprised that 2016 followed 2015; but the manner in which it followed was surprising: Not so much as night follows day, but more as a troop of rabid baboons follows the tourist who went to relieve himself behind the bushes and missed the bus back to the safari lodge, all while having his pockets stuffed full of beef jerky and hard candies. The Fighting Irish 4-8: We began the 2016 season ranked tenth and widely expected to vie for a place in ...
This week, I feel that I have channeled my inner Clark Griswold. If something could go wrong, it has. This podcast is no exception. Not only have Shane and I seen or normal recording schedule go haywire, but I was in rare form in terms of podcasting screwups. Thankfully, this medium allows for edits to make the product sound much less clusterfucky; however, I felt like every loyal listener to the show deserved some insight into just how off the rails I went during recording in the form of a ...
Credit: Matt Cashore / Irish Illustrated
Here are the headlines about Notre Dame football from the past 24 hours. ...
If you attended last weekend’s Blue-Gold Game, you experienced what we on campus experience on a daily basis: The Project. Most work stopped so fans could enter the Stadium. Otherwise, the sounds, the juddering, the shouts – it’s like living next to a tramp steamer that just hit the rocks…and then backed up and hit the rocks again, and again, and again. Anyone walking around the Stadium, or sitting therein, will have realized that The Project is well on its way to completion. Anyone who ...
A generous fellow named Murphy has just endowed the men’s basketball coachship. This goes along with previous endowments for the women’s basketball coachship, the lacrosse coachship, and of course, the football coachship. The defensive backs coachship is also endowed, and even the athletic directorship. Some people think this is crass, that only professorships should be endowed. I don’t have any problem with setting money aside to pay coaches, since it frees up funds to be used elsewhere. But I ...
The University of Notre Dame announced today that it has extended head football coach Brian Kelly's contract through 2021, which will make him the longest tenured coach in the university's history. Kelly has amassed a 55-23 record in 78 games. Lou Holtz, who coached from 1986 to 1996, was 100-30-2 in 132 career games. Depending on the team's bowl game appearances, Kelly could pass Holtz during the Sept. 19, 2020 game against Purdue. The timing of this announcement suggests it's aimed ...
Via @joepa
It's not often that one is challenged by an athletic director, much less one as erudite as Notre Dame's own Jack "Jack" Swarbrick, but challenge us he did, loyal readers, in remarks made at the College Football Playoff spring meetings. As reported by Heather Dinich at ESPN, among othrs, Swarbrick said "You wouldn't believe the number of letters I get from fans with proposals on how to get a 13th game." "It's just crazy. All of them have one common feature about them: There's not a chance in hell ...
Good morning! I'm here to catch you up on all that has transpired with the Notre Dame football program in the last 24 hours. Here are your headlines: PODCAST Irish Illustrated (F): Irish hit spring stride (50:55) ND Insider: Podcast: ND Insider recruiting update 4-2 (10:42) RECRUITING - OFFERED Bruin Report Online ($): Video: Lucas at The Opening (⭐⭐⭐⭐ AZ RB Chase Lucas) Dawg Post (F): Big get for Dawgs - Price commits (⭐⭐⭐⭐ GA OT E.J. Price) Irish247 (F): Robinson, family ...