Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2017 19 I did address it, and I addressed it publicly, and I did that with careful consideration. "I didn't make any assumptions about the year getting better com- petitively. So I had the information then that I needed. If you get in the business of then reaffirming it every week, you create an untenable situa- tion. So that's why I let my statement stand. I wasn't avoiding giving any- one an answer on this topic — I had given an answer." Kelly has also received criticism for the NCAA's penalty that could force Notre Dame to forfeit 21 wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Notre Dame has announced it will appeal the penalty. Swarbrick, though, said he had that information when he gave his vote of confidence in October. "So in mid-season when I made the comment that I did about Brian's future, I already had that [NCAA] information," Swarbrick said. "This isn't something new coming in late in the season that I have to factor in." Swarbrick stressed that he was go- ing through his normal end-of-sea- son interviews with Kelly. He said in his last meeting with Kelly, the two discussed the rumors that Kelly was looking for another job. Following the 2012 season, Kelly explored the NFL — interview- ing with the Philadelphia Eagles. Swarbrick said he understands that a coach's representation has a job to do in protecting his client's interests. "We have very successful coaches here across our programs who from time to time get opportunities and ex- plore them," Swarbrick said. "I don't have any problem with that. Now again, I want to stress I don't think that's happening at the moment, I'm confident it's not. That never both- ers me. I just want to know that I'm fully informed. Sometimes … it re- ally doesn't involve the coach, it in- volves the coach's representative do- ing what representatives do. "I'm not going to go into the de- tails into what was reported here and what version of that I know it to be here, but the point is, on both sides, both with what agents do and what coaches report to me are a pretty nor- mal course of business." This past campaign was only the fourth time since the school began playing football in 1887 that it lost at least eight games in a season. Swarbrick called 2016 an "extremely disappointing year," but declined to define what success would be in 2017. "I'm not heading down that road," Swarbrick said. "There is no stan- dard. There is no saying it has to be this. Because you don't know the cir- cumstances of the year. You've seen programs that lose three quarterbacks in a single season. That would have an impact on your evaluation. So, there's no magic number, there's no magic outcomes. I'll engage in the same process next year that I engaged in this year and the same analysis. "Wins and losses are critically im- portant to us. We are in this to win. We are never going to shy away from that standard. But I also have all kinds of additional information by virtue of the fact that I'm around the program every day. I've said this publicly many times, but for all the disappointment this was one of the more remarkable teams in terms of its identity that I have been around." ✦ Swarbrick And Kelly Take Heat In Attack Ads The frustration over the 2016 football season has angered some Notre Dame fans to the point where they've taken out full-page advertisements to voice their displeasure. Large, bold ads in The Observer — the Notre Dame student news- paper — and The South Bend Tri- bune have bluntly called for both athletics director Jack Swarbrick and head football coach Brian Kelly to be fired. The ad in The Observer, which ran in the Dec. 7 issue, was titled, "Notre Dame Football Has Failed Under Jack Swarbrick." It goes on to highlight where the Irish have failed on and off the field and calls out the program for not upholding standards. The ad has a side-by-side com- parison of Kelly and former head coach Tyrone Willingham. The ad points out that Willingham was fired as a result of a .583 winning percentage over his last three seasons at Notre Dame, while Kelly's .578 mark got him a con- tract extension. It then compares the Notre Dame and Stanford programs, which are considered two of the best academic schools to play ma- jor college football. Stanford has thrived in recent seasons, while Notre Dame for the most part has been mediocre and won very few big games. It ends with mocking quotes from Swarbrick and Kelly. "Jack Swarbrick as a steward of N.D. Excellence: 'Unremarkable.' Our confidence in Brian Kelly: Zero. None. Absolutely none.'" At Echoes, Notre Dame's end-of-season awards banquet, Swarbrick took the stage near the beginning of the presentation. When he took the microphone, he cracked a joke about the attack ads. "Sorry I was a little late getting out," Swarbrick said. "I was catching up on back issues of The Observer." In the Dec. 11 issue of The South Bend Tribune, another full-page ad was run going after Swarbrick and Kelly. It features a large picture of The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame under the headline "The Four Horsemen of Failure." The South Bend Tribune ad is broken into four subheads: famine (zero national titles, one top-10 finish under Kelly), pestilence (academic scandals, arrests and the 21 vacated wins), destruction (Kelly has more losses than any coach in Notre Dame history) and death (the end of Notre Dame football traditions). It ends with the following statement: "Board of Fellows, University Officers, Alumni Association: We Know What We Fight For." — Matt Jones Paid advertisement