Notre Dame football: AD Jack Swarbrick on Freeman and NIL

Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick joined Mike Golic Jr. and Sr. to discuss first-year head coach Marcus Freeman and more on the Gojo podcast. Jack supported the head guy for Notre Dame football and said he was reassured of his decision to hire Freeman.

"“You don’t learn a lot about a coach when you’re beating Clemson handily; you learn a lot when you’re losing to Marshall” – Jack Swarbrick on the Gojo podcast on Marcus Freeman"

After Brian Kelly’s odd and abrupt exit from the Notre Dame football program, Swarbrick promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to head coach. While there was support from the fans and alums and the players themselves, it’s never easy being the head coach at a top collegiate program.

It was apparent early on that Notre Dame may have a more challenging time this year than most initially thought. With the quarterback so uncertain, a lot was riding on the shoulders of Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne. Swarbrick noted how important quarterback play is on the podcast when speaking to the Golics. However, it’s pretty apparent that coaches Rees and Freeman have the green light from Jack to bring in whatever player is necessary to change the outlook for next year.

The AD for the Irish also touched on the wild landscape that currently is college football. He noted that the Irish and Father John were among the first programs to publicly support the concept of name, image, and likeness. What he didn’t anticipate was that NIL would be introduced with next to no regulations or guidelines. He likens the current state of NIL to “under-the-table payments,” and frankly, he’s not wrong.

Jack and the Golics discuss Notre Dame football’s independence, and there’s talk of NBC and what they mean to the program. They go much more in-depth than what I’m describing here, and you should definitely check out the podcast. I found it on apple podcasts, but I believe it’s available on multiple platforms.

Whatever happens the remainder of the year, coach Freeman and AD Swarbrick are on the same page. However, he mentioned that he expects improvement next year, which should be something to watch for moving forward.