Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2024 5 A lmost exactly one year ago, in March 2023, then-Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick penned a New York Times opinion piece about the state of college athletics. He wrote that it was "in crisis." Five months later, on the "Dan Patrick Show" in Dublin, Ireland, leading up to the Fight- ing Irish football season opener against Navy, Swarbrick took his stance a few steps further. He said college athletics were a "complete disaster." His successor as of March 25 of this year, Pete Bevacqua, wouldn't ever go that far. He's some 20 years younger than Swarbrick, and he's confronting the chal- lenges of the current climate with head-on ferocity. He embraces all that come with them. That's exactly what Notre Dame needs in 2024 and beyond. "I love the chaos," Bevacqua said on the "Wake Up The Echoes" podcast. "Notre Dame is what attracted me to this role, but the chaos did, too. Know- ing that we're going to have to be on our toes, and we can't be caught flat-footed. "We're all biased here. We think Notre Dame is the best, and it is. It has an un- believable voice in these issues and in this space, and a very unique voice. And that's important." The crisis, complete disaster and chaos — whichever descriptor you fancy — alludes to the ever-changing land- scape heavily influenced by the out- of-control nature of name, image and likeness (NIL), the transfer portal and money-hungry conference realignment moves. All three of those items are in- tertwined in a web of insanity that has snatched up upstanding athletic pro- grams, suffocating them and leaving them out to dry. T h a t's why n o b o dy i s s h o o t i n g Swarbrick down for his stance; he's got a well-heard point. But it's one that un- fortunately falls on deaf ears. That web is what it is, and it's still being spun by a spider that can't be squashed. Notre Dame is one of those righteous institu- tions trying to wiggle out of a strangle- hold. It's trying to breathe. Bevacqua is blowing life into it. "What's important for people to under- stand is regardless of how you feel about NIL, you have to be aggressive," Bevacqua said. "This is the landscape we're in. And we're going to be super aggressive." Swarbrick supported NIL before its onset. But that was in its truest form. He drew a hard, uncrossable line at "pay for play," which is what NIL has devolved into. Knowing that programs down South are haphazardly throwing money at recruits through boosters to get them to enroll at their schools tired Swarbrick out. He turned 70 in March. He couldn't be doing this much longer. Bevacqua, just north of 50, can. He's got the energy for it. "When I talk to any of our coaches, NIL and what we do in the NIL space is part of the discussion," Bevacqua said. It's important to note Bevacqua isn't some up-and-coming hotshot who's go- ing to push boundaries and break down barriers that Swarbrick wouldn't ever dream of touching. Quite the opposite. Bevacqua was Swarbrick's understudy for many months as the AD-in-waiting. In many ways, he's mirroring what Swarbrick did for 16 years Notre Dame. He's just do- ing so in his own way and with his own fresh perspective. "The first thing that you no- tice about Jack is that he's in- credibly intelligent," Bevacqua said. "You don't find people smarter than Jack Swarbrick. And yet, he's so engaging. "And so, for me, during my time at NBC, I was always amazed as both a Notre Dame alum and a person in the media industry and a partner of Notre Dame, how progressive he was." Notre Dame Stadium was renovated under Swarbrick's watch. He got the Irish's Olym- pic sports a new home in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He inked new lucrative deals with NBC and Under Armour. He was heavily involved in the behind- the-scenes work in constructing new College Football Playoff formats. When Swarbrick speaks, people listen. And when he's spoken for the last nine months, since it was announced Bevac- qua would succeed him, Bevacqua has been standing at his shoulder. People see that and instantly allocate credibility. "He's been an unbelievable leader for Notre Dame," Bevacqua said. "What people can't fully respect, but I can be- cause I see it, is the amount of respect he has in the industry. "When you talk to the commissioners, other ADs, when you talk to the NCAA, when we go to Washington and meet with senators and Congress to talk about the NCAA landscape and NIL, he has their respect because he's an incredibly smart, thoughtful, strategic person." That's all been bequeathed to Bevac- qua, who's younger than Swarbrick was when he became Notre Dame's AD in 2008. Youth matters with all that's go- ing on, but so does the combination of prestige, pedigree and power. Bevacqua has both. Time to get to work. ✦ GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com Following Jack Swarbrick (left), new AD Pete Bevacqua (right) is ready to lead Notre Dame during challenging times for college athletics. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Swarbrick To Bevacqua Will Be A Smooth Transition