Ivan Maisel Discusses Recusal From Discussing Notre Dame in College Football Playoff Committee Room

Maisel dove into what his recusal from discussing Notre Dame meant in a podcast interview with Sports Illustrated.

Sports writer Ivan Maisel discussed his recusal from discussing Notre Dame as a member of the College Football Playoff committee. / Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

In the week that has followed Notre Dame being left out of the College Football Playoff, the school’s athletic director, Pete Bevacqua has gone on a scorched earth media tour while best-selling author and CFP committee member Ivan Maisel had a book signing at the Notre Dame bookstore cancelled, then un-cancelled, as the busy week of PR for the Fighting Irish reached a crescendo.

Maisel appeared on Sports Illustratred's Others Receiving Votes podcast this week to discuss his role on the selection committee, specific to his partial recusal when it came to discussing Notre Dame. Maisel also has a book out now titled American Coach: The Triumph and Tragedy of Notre Dame Legend Frank Leahy. Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman wrote an excerpt for Maisel's book, and Maisel recused himself from discussions around the Fighting Irish as a result. He detailed what that meant in his interview with Pat Forde, Bryan Fischer and Gene Wojciechowski.

“A full recusal means you have to leave the room. A partial recusal, which was instituted this year, means you can stay in the room and you can talk about the other teams surrounding the team you’re recused from, but you cannot talk about or vote concerning the team that you're partially recused from,” Maisel said. “My computer when it would present everybody else with Notre Dame, Team B, Team C, Team D, all I could do was press something that said ‘O.K., present.’ As you can imagine, for much of Saturday night, the wee hours of Sunday and again after we woke up Sunday, I could have just been sitting there eating a bag of popcorn and watching. It was fascinating, and I was glad I was there. What was frustrating to me is I would start to make a point and I would forget ... and I’d start to talk and if I got anywhere near Notre Dame a red light would come up and they’d go, ‘O.K., stop.’ ...But you know, that was the deal.”

The Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore initially cancelling Maisel’s book signing was seen as a perceived slight over the football program’s exclusion from the playoff, which Maisel had no part in voting on.

But now the book signing will take place on Friday as planned, and Maisel will be back on campus in the spring to promote his book for a second time.

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