Notre Dame AD is unsure when ACC presidents call will be rescheduled

The ACC is considering expanding with the additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Aug 30, 2023 8:47 PM EDT

In this story:

Earlier this week, ACC presidents had scheduled a call to discuss and possibly vote on adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU. Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger also reported that in the presented model, expansion would add $55M annually for ACC to share via an incentive pool. However, due to the tragedy at the University of North Carolina, the call was postponed and did not have an immediate date for being rescheduled.

Today, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said that he is unsure when the ACC president's call is going to be rescheduled, but he does expect it to happen at some point. Swarbrick also said that a decision is in the president's hands.

While they are not a member of the ACC in football, Swarbrick and Notre Dame have been at the forefront of trying to get the ACC to add the schools and expand.

Swarbrick was on the Dan Patrick Show last week and voiced similar frustrations as he previously had about the possibility of Cal and Stanford not having a place to go in the current conference realignment landscape:

"You can't have two of the great academic institutions in the world not have a place to play. We're working on (a solution). There is still consideration of the ACC as a home for those schools."

Swarbrick also made broader comments on the state of college athletics and what is happening right now:

"A complete disaster” what’s happened in college athletics. “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 on the focus of the student athlete & what's primarily best for them.”

Earlier this month when Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State left the Pac-12, leaving Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State without homes, Swarbrick made similar comments:

“The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D1 sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realignment is an indictment of college athletics.”

Notre Dame has reportedly been "pushing hard" for the ACC to add schools.

While some ACC coaches have not spoken publicly about the possibility of expansion, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key addressed this during his media availability yesterday:

"I am not going to say that I don't know anything about it because Mike does a good job of updating me because I have been solely focused on the prep for this team and the prep for the Louisville game on Friday.

Look, it is an exciting time for the conference if they are looking to do those things, I have faith in the commissioner, I have faith in the conference, I have been a part of this conference since 1996 and that is why I love this conference. It is such a great mix of academics and athletics and it is an exciting brand of football in the league and if they make the decision to move forward with that, then we would all be behind it and excited for the future."

Key was also asked about conference realignment a month ago:

"To be honest, Mike told me at lunch, seriously. He said you might get a question about conference realignment and I said, what is going on? I had no clue. I was as shocked as anybody when he told me at lunch today. I don't know, ask me on Saturday, I might have time to think about it by then. I have not thought about it one bit. I am worried about Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, and the ACC and that is really all I care about right now."

Unfortunately, this topic has been the talk of college athletics for the past month instead of the season that is on hand.

Stay tuned for the latest conference realignment news.

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