Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick isn't pleased with the current state of college football amid an offseason of drastic conference realignment.

He said the sport is currently "a complete disaster" during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show:

"Everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here," Swarbrick, who is retiring in 2024, said. "I'm not excluding myself from that. I think the decision making lost its way in terms of the focus on the student-athlete and what's primarily best for them."

He also explained he wants to find a home for Stanford and Cal and that Notre Dame is lobbying for them to be included in the ACC. While the Fighting Irish are independent in football, they are in the ACC for most other sports and play men's hockey in the Big Ten.

The biggest storyline of the college football offseason has been the near elimination of the Pac-12.

USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are headed to the Big Ten, while Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are going to the Big 12. That leaves just Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State, and the long-term futures for all those schools remains unknown.

Elsewhere, Texas and Oklahoma are going to the SEC after the 2023 season, while Florida State hasn't exactly made it a secret that it is interested in leaving the ACC.

The topic of Notre Dame joining a conference in football is not a new one, especially since it plays in the middle of Big Ten country. Patrick asked Swarbrick what it would take for the Fighting Irish to join a conference, and the athletic director explained the program would have to be missing a media partner and left without a clear path to the College Football Playoff:

Notre Dame has a media rights deal with NBC and has been to the CFP two times since it was instituted in 2014.

Being independent allows the Fighting Irish to largely make their own schedule even though they face some ACC teams every year, and it is typically a difficult one. In 2023, they face Ohio State, USC, Clemson and North Carolina State.

It seems like Notre Dame will not be joining a conference anytime soon, although nothing seems set in stone in the ever-changing world of college football.

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman has secured the bag for both himself and his teammates.

Pete Nakos of On3 NIL reported that the signal-caller had signed a deal with Beats by Dre and as a result of the agreement has gifted a pair of headphones to every teammate at Notre Dame.

This comes after he signed a similar deal with Under Armour that saw him gift SlipSpeed training shoes to each of his teammates.

He has taken advantage of his time in South Bend after transferring to Notre Dame for the 2023 season following a five-year tenure at Wake Forest. He spoke about the increased exposure that comes with playing at a national brand following fall camp earlier in August.

"It's different; it's special here," Hartman told reporters. "There is a lot of eyes which is pretty obvious at the point. You never really know until you're out of it what it means to be in this position. As much as I can, trying to soak it in."

He threw for just shy of 13,000 yards during his time with the Demon Deacons, tossing 110 touchdowns with 41 interceptions and leading the team to two bowl game victories.

He was considered to be one of the top arms available in the transfer portal and joins a Notre Dame team that desperately seeks stability at the position. The team went 9-4 during Marcus Freeman's first season and had both Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner see time as the starter. Both quarterback's have moved to other programs as Hartman arrived and he will lead a team that enters the season ranked No. 13 in the nation.

Hartman's debut with the Fighting Irish is coming soon as the team prepares to take on Navy on Saturday at 2:30 P.M. ET

While the rest of the college football world seems to be considering conference realignment, Notre Dame isn't eyeing a move. Amid all the potential changes to the Big Ten, the Fighting Irish are committed to staying independent, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Thamel also reported Thursday that Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti was given authorization to explore expansion and look into Oregon and Washington as potential new members of the conference.

No offers have been made to either program yet.

One of the biggest brands in all of college football, Notre Dame have been independent since the program's inception and are remaining committed to it.

It is a part of the ACC in all other sports except hockey, which is a part of the Big 10.

The only year that the Irish were a part of a conference was in 2020 when they had to join the ACC to have a full schedule amid a COVID-affected campaign. Notre Dame dominated that one season, going 10-2 and making an appearance in the College Football Playoff before reverting back to its independent ways.

Any potential noise about the program joining the Big 10 would be difficult to imagine as the Irish currently have a deal with the ACC that allows their other sports to compete in the conference while football can stay independent.

As part of that deal—which runs through 2036—Notre Dame has to play at least five ACC opponents every year and that if it wants to join a conference during that time it would have to be the ACC.

So, whatever moves the Big 10 makes wouldn't affect the Irish either way.

The conference is already set to add UCLA and USC—Notre Dame's biggest rival—to its ranks in 2024. But adding Oregon and Washington is not a lock either.

Thamel reported that the deal is still fairly uncertain as it doesn't offer the current Big Ten schools any additional money. On top of that, USC has been vocal about not wanting any other West Coast teams joining the conference.

Oregon and Washington won't get a full share of the $8 billion media rights deal right away either, which is another reason for pause.

Notre Dame rolled out the green jerseys it will wear for its highly anticipated clash against Ohio State on Sept. 23.

The Fighting Irish had head coach Marcus Freeman playing the eponymous role from Jerry Maguire to unveil the new look:

The school first teased in March it was going green for when the Buckeyes come to South Bend, Indiana.

The sartorial choice has served the Fighting Irish well of late. They've now won their last five games in green after they beat California in 2022.

However, green jerseys have also been connected to some major heartbreaks. There was the 2002 upset at the hands of Boston College that spoiled an 8-0 start. The "Bush Push" against USC followed three years later. The Trojans hammered a green-clad Notre Dame 38-0 in 2007.

Should a similar outcome unfold at the hands of the Buckeyes this fall, it might be a while before the green jerseys come out again for a similarly high-stakes contest.

Johnny Lujack, who won the 1947 Heisman Trophy and was part of three national championship teams at Notre Dame in the 1940s, died Tuesday.

He was 98.

Lujack's granddaughter, Amy Schiller, told Eric Olson of the Associated Press he died after a short illness.

"He was not only a legend in Notre Dame football and the sports world, he was a legend as a father and grandfather and great grandfather," Schiller said.

Lujack had two stints at Notre Dame, 1942-43 and 1946-47, with a period of interruption to serve in the Navy during World War II. The Irish won three national titles with Lujack on their roster, and he earned unanimous All-American honors in 1946 and 1947. His career peaked with a 1947 Heisman Trophy, and he was a first-round selection of the Chicago Bears in 1946.

Lujack played four NFL seasons with the Bears from 1948-1951, earning two Pro Bowl selections and being selected a first-team All-Pro in 1950. A versatile player, Lujack played defensive back and quarterback. He led the NFL in passing touchdowns in 1949 and in rushing touchdowns a year later.

After Lujack's playing career ended, he served briefly as an assistant coach at Notre Dame before going into the used car business. He also served as a color commentator for NFL and college football games in the 1950s and 1960s.

Matt Belis, who has overseen Notre Dame football's strength and conditioning program since 2017, has resigned from his position for personal reasons, the school announced Tuesday.

"I want to thank Coach Balis for all of the work he put into elevating our program," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for who he is as a coach and a man.

"While there is never a perfect time to lose a valuable teammate, we are thankful that Coach Balis was able to see us through our summer program and have our players physically prepared to head into the upcoming season."

Fred Hale, the program's associate director for football strength and conditioning, will take over "for the time being," per Freeman.

The news dropped just one month and one day before Notre Dame opens its season on Aug. 26 against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.

Balis has overseen college football strength and conditioning programs in various capacities from 2001-2016. He's worked for Houston, Utah, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi State and UConn during that time.

Balis notably worked as the director of strength and conditioning at Mississippi State from 2009-2013 before becoming UConn's strength and conditioning Coordinator from 2014-2016.

Notre Dame has gone 63-14 with two College Football Playoff appearances during Balis' time with the program, and he appears to be a huge loss as the Fighting Irish get ready for the 2023 campaign with camp beginning Wednesday.

However, Hale still brings plenty of experience to his elevated role. According to Jack Soble of Blue and Gold, Hale worked on Eastern Michigan's strength and conditioning staff from 2014-2021, rising to the rank of co-director of sports performance in 2016. He left EMU for Notre Dame in 2021. Hale was also a strength and conditioning assistant at Tennessee and interned with the Buffalo Bills in 2012.

Hale was also a Division II All-American football player and wrestler at Mercyhurst University.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will retire in 2024 and be replaced by Pete Bevacqua, the university revealed Thursday.

"This is a dream come true," Bevacqua told Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. "With the exception of my family, nothing means more to me than Notre Dame. I don't have a memory in my lifetime, quite literally, where Notre Dame wasn't a part of it. At this stage of my life, I feel like everything I've done has prepared me for this.

"I didn't have a burning desire, necessarily, to be an athletic director. I had a burning desire to be the athletic director at Notre Dame."

Swarbrick, 69, has served as Notre Dame's athletics director since 2008. He's overseen a turnaround in the Irish football program, which has had seven 10-win seasons during his tenure after only two 10-win seasons in the 15 years prior to his arrival.

The hiring of head coach Brian Kelly was a seminal moment for the program, as the Irish shuffled through the disappointing tenures of Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis before plucking Kelly from Cincinnati. Kelly left Notre Dame after the 2021 season and was replaced by Marcus Freeman, who went 9-4 in his first year with the program.

The Irish men's basketball program has also made eight NCAA tournament appearances during Swarbrick's tenure as athletics director, including back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2015 and 2016. The women's basketball program has also seen significant success, winning the 2018 national championship and reaching seven Final Fours.

"I feel great about where we are," Swarbrick said. "There's a sense that it's the appropriate time. It's important for Father John to make the selection of the next AD, because I don't know how much longer he's going to go."

Bevacqua currently serves as the chairman of NBC Sports. He previously served as the CEO of the PGA of America.

One of college football's most valuable brands could be looking for a new apparel sponsor in 2024.

Notre Dame's exclusive negotiating window with Under Armour has expired, per Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger.

The Fighting Irish inked a 10-year deal worth roughly $90 million in cash and merchandise with the Under Armour in 2014. Under Armour, Nike and Adidas are expected to put in bids when that contract expires after next season, Dellenger reported.

At the time of the original contract, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told ESPN the school had the option to be paid partly in Under Armour stock.

In 2014, that stock reached about five times what it sells for now. As the brand's stock value and retail sales dipped, it looked to reduce overhead by cutting apparel deals with college athletics programs.

Under Armour went from having $1.36 billion tied to sponsorship commitments in 2017 to just $288 million, most of which are set to expire in 2024, by 2022, per Brendan Coffey of Sportico.

Some of those cut deals burned bridges with schools such as UCLA, which sued Under Armour in 2020 by alleging the brand had broken the sponsorship deal early because it had become too expensive for the company to maintain.

It may be true that apparel sponsorship deals generally benefit schools more than they do brands. According to Sportico's Jonathan A. Jensen, athletic programs earn an average of $2.9 million in the first year after an apparel switch, while many brands saw their stock price drop in the days after the deal was announced.

Despite this market uncertainty for apparel companies, a program as well-known as the Fighting Irish's will have no difficulty finding a new sponsor.

The only question is if that deal will be with Under Armour, which appears to be distancing itself from the world of college athletics, or if—because apparel sponsorships often involve the school receiving royalties from merchandise sales—Notre Dame will look to get the influx of cash from all-new merch produced by a company such as Nike or Adidas.

Kennedy Urlacher, a 3-star safety and the son of Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher, announced his commitment to Notre Dame on his Twitter account Monday afternoon.

Kennedy is the No. 57-ranked safety in the class of 2024, according to the 247Sports composite, and has played his high school ball at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona.

He held offers from 14 other Power Five programs including Kansas State, Miami, Penn State, Nebraska, Washington, Stanford and Wisconsin. He is the lone safety in the Fighting Irish's recruiting class so far.

Playing in South Bend, Indiana, Kennedy will be just 90 minutes away from Chicago, where Brian built a legendary career for himself over 13 seasons with the Bears. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and was a five-time All-Pro at linebacker.

Brian was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2018 and was named one of the 100 greatest Bears of all time.

Kennedy will now attempt to carve out a legacy of his own with the Irish and hopefully the pros.

He's the latest addition to coach Marcus Freeman's No. 5-ranked recruiting class that has 13 commits already, including 5-star wide receiver Cam Williams and 4-star quarterback CJ Carr.