Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/393046
UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE On the strength of a national cham- pionship in Irish men's soccer and na- tional title game appearances in wom- en's basketball and men's lacrosse, Notre Dame secured the Capital One Cup as the best school in the country for NCAA men's sports, and finished a university-record third in the Directors' Cup, a national competition compiled from the achievements of an entire ath- letic program, men's and women's. "The demands of the ACC forced us to step up our competition to be better," Swarbrick said. "We got where we got because of our athletes' response to that challenge." The Olympic sports relationship be- tween Notre Dame and the ACC was a natural fit. But the sustained success and future profitability of this union are obviously rooted in football and the re- spectful relationship between Swarbrick and ACC commissioner John Swofford. For the Irish football program, pro- tecting the benefits of independence — most notably the national schedule and the lucrative NBC television contract — while also holding a place in the post- season playoff mix were priorities for Swarbrick during ACC considerations. In exchange, Swofford said having Notre Dame as a regular opponent on the ACC football schedules carried ex- tra clout during television contract ne- gotiations for his league and in future marketing opportunities. To maximize the relationship, Swarbrick and Swofford had to agree on a specific number of football games that Notre Dame and ACC teams would play every year, and after serious but friendly business banter, the two men settled on five. This arrangement al- lows Notre Dame to rotate each of the 14 ACC opponents through its sched- ule every three years, and as a pseudo member, to also tie-in with the league's many bowl game opportunities. Because of previous scheduling com- mitments, Notre Dame plays four ACC games this season — Syracuse two weeks ago, North Carolina on Oct. 11, Florida State on Oct. 18 and Louisville on Nov. 22 — before the full five-game annual commitment begins in 2015. "We would have never brought in a member other than Notre Dame that wasn't a full member," Swofford said. "This was a win-win." And with a television, marketing and recruiting area that includes nine states, the entire East Coast, and cities from Boston in the North to Miami in the South, Swarbrick can maximize Notre Dame's national appeal by playing foot- ball games in cities such as New York, Boston, Atlanta and Miami to name a few of the metropolises in the ACC foot- print, another benefit no other confer- ence could have provided. Who could have guessed a little more than three years ago that Notre Dame would have a new conference home, a revamped football schedule, a partner- ship with some of the best academic universities in the country, and immea- surable opportunities for marketing and exposure? Jack Swarbrick, that's who. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com