Hurrah!
Chris | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 1:28 am | #

It's official: Pat really doesn't sleep. Great scoop; looking forward to learning more!
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 1:44 am | #

Hallelujah! Great news, Swarbrick sounds like a great guy and an excellent fit for the Irish. I'm particularly satisfied an alum was selected.
Brian | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 2:15 am | #

Wow.

At first glance, Swarbuck is to ND AD as Weis is to ND Football Coaching.


I wonder what I'm missing.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 3:33 am | #

I am particularly intrigued by the statement "It's because I really want to change that paradigm." Sounds like a great hire.
GB | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 5:01 am | #

Wow. Thats a really Impressive resume.
This is a GREAT hire.
Mexican Irish | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 6:21 am | #

The wind up, the pitch, bang, it a 500 foot home run land the ball is still rising.
Hurryan Hoosier | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 7:18 am | #

Great work Pat--once again confirming you guys as the best source for my ND football addictions.
Irish Jugg | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 7:31 am | #

Oops...props to Jay on this one!
Irish Jugg | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 7:33 am | #

I'm really impressed with the resume. Anyone who can successfully navigate the waters of Super Bowl bidding is surely going to have the panache needed to sit at the table with the BCS folks and hammer out a good deal for us. Welcome aboard Jack!
Tim | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 7:46 am | #

This seems like a very good hire. There's something about the non-"usual suspects" aspect of it that gives me confidence.

The ability to broker good deals for his constituency seems to be a good corrective for what I perceived to be the most significant weakness of White's tenure.
bgr | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:12 am | #

This is what is needed in an AD....the ND link is great but the business and NCAA and Olympic connection is what ADs do.....let's have more background on this guy.
jbarthel | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:13 am | #

Welcome!!! I love that he is ND guy. Sounds like a real go getter. Irish eyes are indeed smiling. Its just nice to see not only the head FB Coachis a ND guy but now our AD is too. P.S. IN weis we trust
StadiumDudeNamedChip | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:32 am | #

Very well said, bgr.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:32 am | #

ditto for bgr
jbarthel | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:43 am | #

Was this guy on any of the lists at the beginning of the process? Just goes to show that the hacks who simply searched ND alumni in AD roles to fill space in their collumns don't know squat. This is an exciting hire and I'm excited to see where he takes our athletic programs in the future.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:51 am | #

Was this guy on any of the lists at the beginning of the process?

If you mean the lists that appeared in AP stories, or on ESPN.com, or SI.com, or the Chicago Tribune, then no, he wasn't.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:54 am | #

Perusing these clips are so much more encouraging than when I read my first new story about the former Notre Dame Athletic Director.
The Contrarian | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 10:22 am | #

Initial thoughts:

Big Winner: Football and the next BCS negotiation. He seems like a true wheeler-dealer.

Potential Losers: Olympic Sports, but only because the football-focus this seems to imply. I could and hope to be wrong.
Sean F | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 11:44 am | #

Potential Losers: Olympic Sports, but only because the football-focus this seems to imply. I could and hope to be wrong.

There was a lot of emphasis on football because getting the Colts out of the antiquated RCA Dome and into a modern NFL stadium was Indianapolis's biggest athletic/business challenge in the last 10 years. Working on that is one thing; simultaneously luring the NCAA to town, and partnering with them in the design of Lucas Oil Stadium to make it also a 70,000 basketball arena for the Final Four every four years for the next 30-some years demonstrates a sizeable vision.

Plus, working with Sports Corp. and his roles during the 87 Pan American Games show that he is at least versed in Olympic sports. I don't expect him to be able to swap strategy and tactics in volleyball, rowing, or fencing, but I imagine he would be able to say to their coaches "what do you need to succeed, and how can I get it for you?".
DJ | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 11:57 am | #

Darn slanties. :(
DJ | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 11:58 am | #

Potential Losers: Olympic Sports, but only because the football-focus this seems to imply. I could and hope to be wrong.


1994 World Rowing Championships — Advisory Committee
1991 World Gymnastics Championships — Chairman
1987 Pan American Games — Competition Director
1982 U.S. Olympic Festival — Sports Commissioner

It seems like he has plenty of experience with Olympic sports, maybe even more so than with football or basketball. And there's a couple more of examples in the articles that Jay quoted.
Double DD | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 12:27 pm | #

I had never heard of the guy but damn that is quite the collection of excerpts. First I was :/ then I was :D
Matt | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 12:47 pm | #

DJ and Double DD,

I may have to concede the point on Olympic sports. I hope you're both right!
Sean F | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 1:08 pm | #

Looks like a great hire!!!
TomC'69 | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 1:40 pm | #

This is an excellent hire. College sports are a big business and we need a negotiator to fight for ND's best interests. Plus it announces to the world that we're done screwing around -- the game has changed and we're changing with it.

Consider me pleasantly surprised.

He did graduate same class as Fr. Jenkins and Fr. Scully. I wonder if he knew them? It would fit into some of the theories I've heard that the true power at ND is held by certain trustees and the abovementioned priests...
Curse of the Class of '98 | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 2:19 pm | #

I am very interested to hear Voice's take on this hire...
GO IRISH!!! | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 2:29 pm | #

Blogs of Note 7/15/2008
The Blue-Gray Sky
Jack Swarbrick ND AD
jack | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 2:36 pm | #

Press Release just sent out by John Heisler:

The University of Notre Dame will announce its new athletics director at a press conference to be held at 12:30 p.m. EDT, on Wednesday, July 16, 2008, on the 14th floor of the Hesburgh Library on the University campus.

Parking will be available in the large lot east of the library.

The news conference will be streamed live at www.und.com.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 2:47 pm | #

As an Indianapolis resident I am very happy about this hire. Anyone who has lived in Indy over the past 10 years knows the amazing steps the city has taken to become a great sports town. The new AD is one of, if not the, most influential person responsible for all the great sports moves in Indianapolis. Bully to ND.
mark | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 6:03 pm | #

This is quite the impressive resume. Wide ranging connections with both the NCAA and USOC, and a healthy dose of NFL to boot. This speaks to a serious ability to get things done. Good luck Jack!
bgreany | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 6:39 pm | #

GO IRISH!!!! I am very impressed by his credentials and resume, and feel that the athletic department will benefit from his experience as an attorney who has sought and won various big sports deals. With contracts and marketing such important aspects of today's college athletic programs, his accomplishments for the city of Indianapolis serve to show that he is very comfortable and adept when the stakes are big. I am also pleased that he is a Notre Dame man. IMO, that should, heretoforth, be a requirement for the job.
I had hoped that Steve Orsini would receive the job. I knew Steve to be a great guy, sharp as a tack, and a terrific representative of Notre Dame. While I am disappointed for Steve, I am excited for the University, and after learning about Mr. Swarbrick from the great, great work of Pat and Jay, I feel that Notre Dame made a wonderful decision.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 8:51 pm | #

As always Voice, great to get your opinion. I am already preparing my menus for this season's games. If you are out in California for the SC game, you are welcome at the Casa. OCmj is already penciled in with her(ahem!) Florida-oriented significant other!
GO IRISH!!! | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:07 pm | #

So I guess Voice will not be quashing the nomination.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 9:08 pm | #

I wonder where the current residents of the AD's staff will fit in. Nickname? Daddy Swarbrick? Welcome back, Jack.
Brian | Email | Homepage | 07.15.08 - 10:42 pm | #

Thanks a lot GO!!!! Currently I have no plans to attend the big game in SoCal, but greatly appreciate the e-vite. If anything changes, I'll let you know! Hmmm, and with OC mj as the dangling carrot...

Don E. Brook, No quashing. I'm rubber stamping it.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 07.16.08 - 8:53 am | #