Jack Swarbrick spoke at an ND function this week. A summary of his comments:

BB Recruiting: We can only admit 20-30 of the top 250, which makes for a huge challenge. If Duke offers, we generally lose out on that one. In addition the AAU coaches run the show. Unlike football, where ND can work the HS coaches, parents, teachers guidance counselors etc., we have no leverage there in hoops. You have to have the ear of the AAU coach. He thinks that Under Armor will help us there.

Under Armour: Will help with hoops recruiting, see above. Adidas has been a great partner. We were not unhappy, but especially in hoops, we were not getting the attention from them that we will get from UA. They have Kansas, Michigan etc. We are UA's premier client. This year's Shamrock series uniform will be pretty tame. Due to somewhat limited time constraints, they did not come up with anything too drastic. Expect that to change in coming years.

Video Board: South end zone. Book it. We have shown how we will use it at the Shamrock series games, and it will be tasteful.

Crossroads: No consideration was given to a wraparound concept whole stadium. The original plan had 4 buildings and they scaled it back to 3. He did not get into it but said that would have been a much bigger challenge in construction with disruption of the use of the stadium.

Dave Brandon: (Shaking head) "different styles....just...different styles" (Brandon is Michigan's AD)

Recruiting: Behind basketball, hockey is the biggest challenge. You literally have Canadian junior league teams trying to outbid your scholarship offer. That continues while they are in school too.

Unions: Not really a major concern. Everyone thinks that the Northwestern players voted it down. The basic premise of the ruling is that football activities are not educational. They dispute that very notion. Funny thing is that if unions do happen, all scholarship athletes will be part of it. That means that football players will be a minority in the union. The union rep will likely be a fencer, soccer player or swimmer etc. The results of an agreement with that union will be likely much different than what the Northwestern football players are hoping they will get. They need to be careful what they ask for.

Navy Series: "Fr. Hesburgh committed to it, and I am not going to be the one who goes against that." The chop blocking is really an NCAA rules issue. They stay within the rules, but on the very edge of them. Maybe, way in the future that might morph into an "Academy" slot on the schedule (with some sort of rotation), but no plan on that.

Scheduling: After 5 ACC, Navy, USC, Stanford, Shamrock Series and one "buy" game we have one home and home to play with each season. (Hence, the Big Ten games had to go).

His Future: Will be on the beach within 5 years.

He had a forum this morning with Tom Bowen the AD at University of Memphis;

Biggest Challenge to College Football: The antitrust issue. Similar to how the Ivies got slapped a few years ago with their academic scholarships, the antitrust case against the NCAA is a hard one to defend legally. Ultimately they will probably need congress to grant an exemption like the NFL and MLB have. In the meantime there could be a free for all for a few years if they lose. The pro sports teams also can collectively negotiate compensation. If they lose the schools may in fact want a players union with whom the can negotiate scholarship compensation.

Eligibility: Would love to see all sports go the baseball route: If you want to go pro out of HS, then go. If you start college, you must stay 3 years.

Big 5 conference Split: Thinks that they will stay within the NCAAA but will have some additional autonomy to make rules for themselves.

History of College Football: This was interesting - we have had 3 eras. From the beginning til about the '50s the individual schools were in control of things. From the '50s-2000's the NCAA dominated, now all of the power is in the hands of the conferences and their commissioners. Thinks power will shift back to the schools over time.

Penn State: Thought there was a rush to judgment on the part of the NCAA. Did not understand why the current athletes were penalized (scholarships, bowl ban). The institution should have been penalized, but not the current students. NCAA should have waited until the legal case ran its course before acting. This was not really an athletics issue per se.

Conference Realignment: We are stable for the next 10 years while the current TV contracts run their course. The means by which we all watch TV 10 years from now will drive what happens next.

Terry, do you have a source for this (maybe a link to an article somewhere)?

He sounds like he has as realistic a handle on what is happening, and what is going to happen, in college athletics as anyone actually involved in the process. I hope other AD's and presidents listen carefully when he speaks.

(06-05-2014 07:38 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  Terry, do you have a source for this (maybe a link to an article somewhere)?

Reported by posters on an ND board who were at the breakfast meeting. No link other than to NDNation.com.

(06-05-2014 06:22 AM)TerryD Wrote:  Eligibility: Would love to see all sports go the baseball route: If you want to go pro out of HS, then go. If you start college, you must stay 3 years.

Yes. But does that then apply to ALL SPORTS (eg.: golf, where players go pro early all the time)?