4thand1

I have no interest in anything Swarbrick has to say. I believe he has done a lot of good for ND athletics but I think his ego is now out of control. I'm hoping now that he's seen ND out of the pandemic and hired the next men's basketball coach that he will be convinced to step aside and allow someone new to come in with fresh ideas.

If Freeman needs to continuously hand hold his DC, he's got the wrong guy. Oversight in the beginning but the DC should be very capable of executing the scheme on his own from there with minimal oversight. Obviously if Freeman feels its not going well he gets involved. If he repeatably has to do that, time for a change. If fans want to continue to scream about ND not being willing to pay top dollar for the coaching staff, I am all for it. Just be prepared to be disappointed. I think we should run a fire Swarbrick thread continuously. Don't want to hear about all of the other great stuff he's done. The right person can do all of that other great stuff and lead the football team to being an annual championship contender. Get it done or get out of the way.

I am not sure I am getting my main point across. I am leveraging Freeman's def scheme knowledge and ability to save $ on defensive coaches so ND can spend big on their OC.

Fire Swarbrick then but we all know that's not happening. I am trying to think of ways to work around the situation that we seemingly have to deal with.

Maybe I would be asking too much but I would ask Freeman to remain as focused on recruiting. Ideally, his DC would require oversight at first but I would hope that coach would pick up the scheme quickly and allow Freeman to back off a little. That would be especially true if they promoted from within like Mickens.

I have come to the realization that ND will not pay their coaches at top 10 salary levels in many cases. So, I would suggest; Coach Freeman has to insist on ND running his defense and he has to be responsible for making sure it's being coached and executed properly. As a result of that, I would offer less salary for my D coordinator. I am going to be choosing from a little farther down the list of prospective candidates and telling them, my defense got me the HC job at ND. Run it my way and you will get offers from other power 5 schools as a coordinator for more money or HC offers. Hypothetically if Golden has another less than expected year, I would hire Mickens as D coordinator. Hypothetically in my scenario you can survive a constant cycle of replacing DCs and positional coaches because the players will be playing in the same system every year. You have to pay your defensive coaches less than offense because that's where the competency of your HC lies. On offense, I would offer my prospective coordinator a top 10 level salary. I would ask that guy to please stay till you receive a top level HC offer. If you are good at your job, that won't take long. I would tell that candidate that I won't be able to pay your positional assistants at a similar top 10 level unfortunately. I would ask the OC to be responsible for the execution of the offense and just make sure your positional assistants are dogs on the recruiting trail. In this scenario I'm hoping that the high level pay for the OC will keep that person in place a bit longer and create stability. What do you think...?

ND has to start adding guys like Seviliano and Justin Scott. You can't continue to start guys like Ademilola (285lbs) and Cross (270lbs) at DT. I like that Mills should be around 300lbs this season and if ND can pair him with Rubio or Keanaaina, the line should be stout against the run.

I think Freeman has made good coaching staff decisions for the most part. He's going to need to keep a running list for each coaching position continuously as coaches will continue to churn out. Still hoping some other team wants to poach Golden and Washington.

Does anyone think that ND would pay their ST coach $800k plus?? I just don't see that happening. ND doesn't publicize salaries so I doubt anyone knows what Mason was pulling in.

Staff turnover isn't going to slow down. It does hurt a bit to lose coaches making lateral moves. I understand that Mason moved to the NFL but I think ND should be on par with that opportunity. I don't know that Freeman is selling the chance to be a part of ND's next NC enough and how revered that staff would be. Of course the money would have to be there for coaches to stay.

HCs are going to have to recruit coordinators and assistant coaches just as much as players. The turnover is constant.

Transfer portal opens up again (I think) after spring practice. Guessing the staff wants to evaluate their internal options at guard especially with a new OL coach. If they don't like the options after spring practice, perhaps they start looking.

What are the chances that Father Jenkins is pressed into asking for resignations from Swarbrick and Powlus? For what it's worth, I think Father Jenkins should be replaced too. I realize that ND is about more than the football team but football funds so much beyond the team itself that it can't be overlooked or minimized. As I mentioned in a previous post, ND has upcoming deals for TV and apparel. The better ND football is, the more they can ask and receive in both deals. I have heard that large donors aren't happy with Swarbrick but I can't tell just how far they are willing to push it. #FireSwarbrick

Every once in a while an under the radar coach becomes great. Pretty sure Dabo wasn't a hot name when he was hired at Clemson. I just want ND to reach the point where they aren't shopping in the discount isle. Take a look at the big name analysts that Ala has! They aren't even coaches. #FireSwarbrick

Sorry for all of the posts but I keep thinking of new things that piss me off even more. So, money is obviously a huge factor for ND and particularly money saved. It would seem that Swarbrick isn't valuing the TV and apparel deals that I believe aren't too far off into the future. Wouldn't it be wise to elevate the status of the team into a championship contender before the negotiations of those deals begin? I would have to think both deals would net ND more cash if the football team was better. Hmmmm. I don't need a Mendoza school of business degree to see the value in that.

Not sure if this article was already posted so I wanted to share it. Someone like Mendoza complaining about how poorly this situation was handled is how a powerful AD like Swarbrick could potentially be fired. ....but who are we kidding. ND won't do that and that's why the football team will continue to not win championships. 'A very bad look': Notre Dame booster speaks out on OC debacle (on3.com) ‘A very bad look’: Notre Dame booster Tom Mendoza speaks out on offensive coordinator debacle

Don't stop now ND! Promote Watt to OL coach. Make the ball boy a GA.

Parker got the OC job and ND hired a QBs coach. It's not the fault of either of them and I wish them success. That said, ND screwed this up in many ways. I saw other posts saying that if ND doesn't think Ludwig is the guy, they shouldn't pay the buyout. Who is it that thinks he isn't the guy???? Obviously Freeman thought he was that's why he was going to be offered. For anyone other than Freeman to decide who is or who isn't a good candidate is just ridiculous. Another screw up is not knowing what his buyout was and deciding that if it couldn't be negotiated down, the deal would be off. How about parading Ludwig around at the hockey game for every media outlet to photograph him! Is that a good decision??? Why is Parker not a good choice??? Would OSU, Ala or Georgia ever consider hiring him as OC? Hell no. That is the standard that I hold ND to which is obviously my fault because the ND administrative leadership doesn't hold themselves to the standard of a top football program. I can only hope that unless Parker kicks butt next season, Freeman realizes that this situation isn't going to be improved much from Parker and they can reevaluate next year.

Respectfully irishwavend I completely disagree with you. Yes it's possible that whomever they eventually hire will be great and possibly better than Ludwig. That's not the point. Here is what is the point. ND didn't have the correct contract for Ludwig when he arrived on campus. Completely inexcusable. Once Freeman wanted Ludwig and the buyout was discovered, Swarbrick overrides his coach and turns down the deal. They absolutely have the money to pay the buyout! Telling Freeman that even though he wants Ludwig, I don't think he's the right guy is garbage. What the heck does lawyer Swarbrick know about who is or isn't a good OC. ND comes out publicly as Rees is flying to Ala to accept the job that they will match whatever his compensation is knowing full well the horse had left the barn at that point. Complete PR spin bs. What about any of this tells the fans that the school has sincere intentions of being a perennial championship contender???? Nothing the school administration has done indicates that they are passionate about making ND a football championship contender. Football donors wherever you may be, please tell Swarbrick you are done giving him your money till he's replaced or convinces them he will change the way things are done. You will absolutely fail to compete with the CFB powerhouses the majority of time making football decisions like this. Telling fans that they are drama queens for wanting ND admin being as passionate about the football program as we are is freaking insulting. God bless you and your clueless perspective.

New information provided on an IB podcast. Sources close to ND indicated that ND didn't have the most current Andy Ludwig contract which showed the buyout to be $450k. Apparently Swarbrick didn't view Ludwig as a good candidate but would accept him at the $450k buyout. Once they learned that the current contract called for a $2.8 mil buyout or $4 mil including the OL coach, Swarbrick attempted to negotiate Utah down unsuccessfully. It then came down to Swarbrick telling Freeman he didn't view Ludwig as a candidate worthy of that buyout. Sources close to the program don't always have accurate info but if this is true, it's a failure on many levels. Clown show over there and somebody should lose their job over this.

It's believed that Ala paid a buyout to ND to hire Rees. ND paid Charlie Weiss approx $19 mil to go away. ND knew what Ludwig's buyout was when he stepped foot on campus. This situation is a disaster. Shame on Father Jenkins and Swarbrick. I hope one or both are replaced. If I were Freeman, the new OC candidates I would pursue would be as high profile or higher with similar compensation demands as what Ludwig commanded. I would make ND say no to all of them and would not settle for a lesser candidate. I also hope the big money donors to the football program inform ND that they won't be doing so until changes are in place. Multiple big money donors ceasing funding is the only way the message is received at ND and might cause change. This whole thing paints ND administrative leaders being perfectly ok with the football program being mediocre. I can't get to the point of not being a fan anymore. However, I will not go to any games or by any ND merchandise till changes occur.

With the timing I have a hard time believing that it doesn't have to do with Rees leaving and a new OC coming in. I saw an article on on3 regarding Andy Heck winning the super bowl as the Chiefs OL coach. He would be a great hire though I have no idea why he would leave a great situation other than Heck being a ND guy. I don't know anything about Watts and his coaching ability at this point but it wouldn't make me comfortable hiring him as OL coach.

Excellent info. I would also say that at age 58 or 59, he's not likely to be looking to make another move if he accepts the job offer.

I would think that any coach Freeman hires would fully embrace recruiting but it doesn't appear that Rees, Hiestand, Washington or Golden did/do....I think we all give Hiestand a pass because he is specific about who he goes after and develops them well. Not saying I have concerns about Ludwig's recruiting but I would like Freeman to press a little harder on recruiting effort when warranted.

Ludwig would have been my 1st choice all along.