Notre Dame AD calls state of college football ‘a complete disaster’

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick did not mince words when discussing the current state of college football. 

Joining “The Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday, Swarbrick was asked to sum up what has recently occurred in college football. 

“A complete disaster,” Swarbrick said. 

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“I wish I knew,” Swarbrick said when asked how college football got into its current situation. “Everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here. 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. But we are where we are. We have to try and make it work.” 

The world of college athletics was completely shaken up at the beginning of August when the Pac-12 crumbled, losing five additional teams to the Big Ten and Big 12 on top of the departures of Colorado, USC and UCLA. 

All that remains of the storied conference is Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and California. 

Swarbrick made it clear Wednesday that finding a conference for Cal and Stanford was a priority. 

“We’ve been pretty vocal in the past month about we need to find a home for Stanford and Cal,” he said. “You can’t have two of the great academic institutions in the world not have a place to play.” 

“There’s still consideration as the ACC as a home for those schools,” Swarbrick continued, adding that Notre Dame is lobbying for Stanford and Cal to join the ACC. 

The majority of Notre Dame athletics compete in the ACC, with hockey playing in the Big Ten and football remaining an independent. 

Swarbrick said conference realignment has been driven by money, echoing the thoughts of many within the world of college athletics. 

“They’re certainly based on money, there’s no question,” he said. “Some of that is the demands that have arisen over time to find more revenue to meet this requirement or this requirement. So, I’m not terribly comfortable with the description of it as greed, but it is all about money.” 

Notre Dame football opens the 2023 college football season against Navy in Ireland on Saturday, Aug. 26.