Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua spoke on Tuesday afternoon.
Opening statement:
“It's no secret, I've talked quite a bit about the CFP in the national press over the course of the last 24-36 hours. We thought this would be a great opportunity to get everybody together, people we interact with day in and day out, and answer any questions. But not just about, obviously, one of the key topics out there right now, the CFP in the process, but about all of our programs. Notre Dame, any one of our sports, kind of what's going in in the college space. This is something we want to do at least once a year, just to spend time with all of you and give you an inside look of what's going on here at Notre Dame.
“But no secret, we were shocked, I would say, mystified by what happened on Sunday. And just where my head and heart go, and I know Marcus feels the same way, you just feel for those student athletes on our football team. As I said yesterday, as I said on Sunday, we felt we did everything we could over the course of the season. We lost our first two games. We're not hiding from that. We lost against a really good Miami team. We lost a nail-biter against Texas A&M, two great teams by a total of four points. And then we did everything we needed to do.
“We had one of the most dominant 10-game runs in the history of college football. And on top of that, we felt that the CFP committee, the ranking committee, felt the same way. You go back to that first ranking where we were 6-2 and Miami was 6-2, and they had already beaten us. We were 10th and they were 18th. The only thing that happened from that point forward is we both went on these amazing runs, and through no fault of our own, we wake up and found out that we're the odd man out, we're on the outside looking in.
“As I've said, all the credit in the world to the other teams that are in. They are 12 terrific teams, teams that have won conference championships. Miami, I think the world of the program, I think it's one of the great universities in this country. Dan Radakovich is a good friend. Miami deserves to be in the CFP, of course they do. And Alabama does as well. You could make that argument for Texas and Vanderbilt. And you could go right on down the list, but we were just led to believe all season long if we took care of business, we were going to be in. To have that shock, that surprise on Sunday in that room with those kids who have given everything that they have since August to put themselves in that position, to be told week in and week out that you're in that position, provided you win.
“We certainly won when you think about these last 10 weeks. It just boggles my mind that when we got off that plane that Sunday morning in snowy South Bend after the Stanford game, that was it. That's not the way this season deserved to end with the performance of our football team.
“I'm biased, of course, I'm a million percent biased when it comes to Notre Dame. But you ask anybody in college football, we're one of the best teams in the country. We're one of those handful of teams that could absolutely win the national championship this year. Then standing up here today, knowing that we have 0% chance of proving that on the field is a bitter pill to swallow. But it's a situation we're in. And what frustrates me and I know what frustrates Marcus is there's just no good explanation. Normally, when you stand in front of these young student athletes who've poured their heart and soul, and they have limited opportunities in life to do this. You're only 18 to 22 for so long. There are only so many seasons. There are hundreds of seasons in the history of Notre Dame football. And hopefully there'll be hundreds of more seasons. But it's a finite amount of time in these kids' lives. They put everything they had into it and positioned themselves and thought they did everything they needed to do. And it was just the ultimate gut punch to know that this team doesn't get to proceed and try to play for a national championship.
“So you know where my head is. Coach Freeman, I spent most of the day Sunday with him. He's going through the same emotions, but you know, you got to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start thinking about next season. Really now our focus is on those guys on the football team, our student athletes, what's best for them. These are tough days for them as well and that's a lot more important. How I feel about this is how they feel about this.
“I wanted to state that up front. When you think about Notre Dame right now, you know, we've got a lot going on. A lot going on in the college space. This is a time of unprecedented change. Luckily for us and because of the history of Notre Dame, we have a seat at the table in terms of talking about what's next for college sports, what's best for college sports, maybe perhaps what needs to change for college sports. We have our eye on the national landscape about what needs to happen in college sports to preserve something that's so great.
“We're kind of hitting the ground running, obviously, really excited about the start of our men's basketball season. Coach (Micah) Shrewsberry is doing an amazing job. We had an unfortunate injury as you all saw with Markus (Burton), and I'm sure Micah will address that later on today, but a great start to the season. Young talent playing unbelievably well.
“And on the women's side, the job Niele (Ivey) is doing with a different team than last year. No secret about that.Having the most talented player in the country in Hannah Hidalgo and the supporting cast and really excited to see how that season progresses as well. In addition to all of our other programs here that are really gearing up for an exciting winter and an exciting spring.”
On where Notre Dame goes with the ACC after stating there was permanent damage done:
“We have the ultimate respect for our fellow universities in the ACC. Wonderful universities with wonderful athletic programs. It's not about the universities. It's not about Miami. I've texted back and forth with Dan Radakovich. I sent him a text last night saying, so happy you guys made it and I hope you go deep. I think you have the talent to win it all.
“What we were really surprised by and disappointed was how the ACC conference really went on a social media campaign, in my opinion, attacking our football program. Miami had done that and they didn't. I get it. You know, all's fair. There's a great rivalry, decades long rivalry between Notre Dame and Miami. That's the spirit of the universities and the football programs and fandom. That's what makes college football special, whether it's Notre Dame-Miami, Notre Dame-USC, Michigan-Ohio State.
“We felt this was different and it raised a lot of eyebrows. We made our feelings known that we didn't particularly understand this. It just kind of puzzled us that a conference that's home to over 600 of our student athletes walking around this campus today, I guess, chose to go down that road. I guess, intellectually, I understand it, but I certainly don't agree with it.
“Why would you attack an unbelievably important business partner of yours in football and a member of your conference in 24 other sports? I'm one person. I don't see the logic in that. I know other leaders at the university didn't see the logic in that. The ACC is important to us and we're important to the ACC.
“Think about football for a minute. Those ACC teams want to play us in football. Interesting stat, since 2014, when we started our football relationship with the ACC, if you look at stadiums, they sell out, ACC games sell out roughly 23% of the time. When Notre Dame goes to an ACC site, it's 90% of the time. When you think about ratings for ACC football games when they play Notre Dame, there's a tremendous lift. I don't understand why you would go on a social media campaign to attack an important partner.
“Who are some of our important partners in the football space? NBC. We wouldn't do that to NBC. Now, I understand they have to stand up for their teams in football. We just think there's other ways to do it and it has created damage. I mean, I'm not gonna shy away from that and that's just not me speaking. People a lot more important at this university than me feel the same way. I think it has done some real damage and I think the ACC knows that.
On what needs to be fixed with the process of determining who plays in the College Football Playoffs:
“There's human beings making these decisions. So they're never going to be perfect. That's understandable. But you get, with these weekly shows and weekly rankings, very strong signals are being sent. OK, Notre Dame, in the first ranking, you are 10 at 6-2. Well, we did nothing from that point until last Sunday, but to prove to the world that we've gotten better each week, progressed each week, have the best player in the country on our team in Jeremiyah Love. We've done everything from that point, not even to put into question whether we should stay at 10 or get better.
“To me, all the empirical data in the world suggests we should get better. We have this starting point of being 10th, dominated the rest of the season, and are on the outside looking in. So how do you fix that? You either have a really series of defined metrics that everybody can rely on and see and know what they're going into, or you have one ranking show at the end and say, OK, here's what it is, and here's why we thought and that would have been less of a shock to the system, to our team than what happened was.
“If you wake up every day for five, six weeks and say, you're in, you're in, you're in, and what you do in response to that is you win in dominant fashion. You know, 70 points, 50 points, 49, I mean, just week in and week out. You have Jermeiyah and Jadarian, they look like they're out of the matrix and it's just everything going well. Then you wake up on Sunday and you're in a room with these 18 to 22-year-olds who are like, Are we ninth, are we 10th? Let's get to practice, let's get going, let's win a national championship. Oh, wait a second, sorry. You know what, there was a game where a team went through it and fourth down that ought to mean something. Or, well, you lost to this team in week one and we asked everybody to go back and watch it. Well, we don't see the logic in all that.
“It's something that has to be fixed. I said it yesterday, we take this very seriously at Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman takes this very seriously, our coaches, our student athletes, our administration. These rankings, and I said it, so I'm repeating myself, but they can't be a game of musical chairs at a fifth-grade birthday party. That's what it felt like to us. We don't appreciate that because of the impact it's had on the kids in that room and this university, quite frankly. These are big decisions and we just have not had anybody answer us in a way that gives us any satisfaction at all as to what happened.”
On what caught his eye about the ACC social media campaign:
“I don't have the exact timeline in front of me, so I'll give you generalities about the timing of it. I think it was like a three, three and a half week campaign. Saw the first social media post, and my gut reaction was that somebody in their social media department got over their skis and did something that the ACC was gonna correct. Quite frankly, I was kind of expecting a phone call saying, hey, sorry about that, it won't happen again, but then it did happen again.
“We started to communicate with the ACC. Texts that I sent, emails that I sent, and it continued to happen. I had a conversation, I had a phone call with Jimmy (Phillips) a week ago today, saying, hey, listen, that's a conversation I wanna keep between me and Jimmy, but certainly got the point across that this was raised eyebrows, and you gotta know it's caused damage here between the university and the ACC.”
On why Notre Dame felt it was being targeted by the ACC:
“We were definitely being targeted. And for better or for worse, we have a different relationship with the ACC than any other team in college football, other than the teams that are in the ACC because we're in the ACC for 24 sports. We have a scheduling agreement with the ACC. And again, the ACC does wonderful things for Notre Dame, but we bring tremendous football value to the ACC. We didn't understand why you would go out of your way to try to damage us in this process.”
On if he’s spoken with other Power 4 commissioners since Sunday:
“Since Sunday, the only commissioner I've spoken to and had a couple of great conversations with him is Greg Sankey. Greg and I talk all the time. I can't tell you how much I admire Greg and his leadership. Good conversations really about format, process. Gave him my viewpoint on the process. He shared some thoughts that he had with me that obviously between Greg and me.
“Format, Greg knows, they all know how I feel about the format. Go and put the process aside, the format. I mean four teams, 12 teams, 14 teams, 16 teams, 1,000 teams. Should be 16 teams in my opinion, with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at large. Think about this year. If we had four teams, it would have been perfect. I don't think anybody would argue that those aren't the right four teams that are 1-4 the way they're playing. Texas Tech, Ohio State, Indiana, and Georgia. Particularly Indian, what an unbelievable season they've had. Georgia looks fantastic.
“16 would have been perfect. Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt. You know, who else is in there? It's never year to year, you're never gonna have the same data points each year. It's never gonna work out perfectly whether you had four teams, 12, 14, or 16. What I like about 16 is it does create for more opportunity, does create more narratives around more schools, and yet preserves the integrity and the importance of the regular season. I think that's one of the greatest things college football has going for it.
“The regular season is more important in college football than it is in any other sport by a mile. You know, think about college basketball. It's just different. Think about the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA. College football, I mean, hey, we see it. We saw it last year. We saw it this year. We knew last year when we lost to NIU, we had no wiggle room. Every game was a bowl game. Every game was a CFP game. This year, after we lost in the last second to A&M, zero room for error. Turns out, we didn't even have zero room for error. I think 16 teams with that five and 11 breakdown is the way to go. I think the vast, vast majority of people in the CFP management room feel the same way.”
On where Notre Dame stands with the House Cap and his thoughts on some programs finding workarounds to get more than $20.5 million:
“We are huge proponents of the house settlement. Give credit to Notre Dame, before I arrived here in this role, was huge proponents and endorsed the concept of student-athletes being fairly compensated. What you have now with the cap, I mean, let's be realistic with each other. The cap is $20.5 million. The first 2.5 million of scholarships counts off the cap and you're left with $18 million.
“Schools around the country are gonna use that compensation for NIL opportunities, primarily for football, men's and women's basketball. So even if you start at 18, most schools around the country, you're starting to think about a number in the 15-16 million dollar range if you're placing a great emphasis on the value of the football program, which most major power four conference schools are, and we are.
“Then you read things and see things about what teams are setting aside for roster numbers. You see it in news reports. You see it in the back and forth with coaches negotiations. The numbers you're hearing and the numbers we know that are out there don't compute with the cap number.
“I think we have to be honest and forthright with ourselves and have a set of rules that are realistic and reflect what's happening, reflect major college football in 2025 and beyond. I think the cap's too low. I think if we keep operating under this rule of where the cap is, most major programs are gonna have a heck of a tough time going backwards because you read the same news reports that I do. You read and know about the same roster numbers for NIL and compensation that I do. Instead of making pretend that doesn't exist, let's deal with it and come up with a set of rules that can be followed and then hold people's feet to the fire.”
On how postseason bonuses are handled when you skip the postseason:
“We talked a bit about that. The way we structure them is we never want things just to be about one game and the national championship's different. Obviously, there's a great bonus structure for our coaches if you win a national championship. I can tell you that the coaches' compensation contracts and the bonus concepts, the difference between the decision that we made and going to play in one of these other bowls is inconsequential.”
On the next steps with the ACC:
“I would tell you at this point, we haven't really given all of that a ton of thought. Are we looking for an apology? To be quite frank, I don't think an apology does anything or unwinds what has happened. At the right time, we'll sit down with the ACC leadership and I think have hopefully a very frank, honest, hopefully productive conversation. But I would tell you that time's not now.”
On the MOU that allows Notre Dame in the playoff if they are ranked in the top 12:
“I don't wanna go into too much detail with the MOU, but some things have already been reported and there is a provision in the MOU starting next year, which is the extension years of the ESPN deal between the college football playoff and ESPN. That if the number stays at 12, if Notre Dame is 12 or better, we're in. If it goes to 14, there's a different set of metrics.
“People have asked me, well, how come Notre Dame gets that benefit? We have to prove it on the field more than anybody. We still have to put ourselves in that area, that zip code of a top 12 team. We want to protect ourselves against what happened this year. Do I think Miami should be in the CFP? 100%. Do I think Alabama should be in the CFP? Yeah, they deserve it. They had a tough schedule, they played great. They had a tough championship game, but t we deserve to be in the CFP.
“If I was at Texas, I would have a strong argument. If I had the great season Vanderbilt had. But again, for us, we needed to have some protection in there to say, OK, if we prove it on the field over the course of a season, and we're fortunate enough to be in that top 12, we need to know we have a surefire route of getting into the playoffs.”
On what Notre Dame can do to avoid this situation moving forward:
“We always wanna know where we stand. So to answer your question based on what happened this year, like, hey, would I like to say, hey, let's go back in time and beat Miami, beat Texas A&M? Sure, but okay, we didn't. Early season, two great games, heartbreakers, three points, one point. What could we do differently from that moment forward? Couldn't have done anything better. We were told, hey, you're in, right? Here are the rankings, and rankings can change, I'm not naive, but based on what happened in the rest of the season around the country, and based on what we did, what Marcus's team and that team did, there's nothing I could say we could have done differently from early Sunday morning after the A&M game to getting off that plane in the snow in South Bend at 8:30 on a Sunday morning from Stanford. We could not have done anything better.
“In the future, at least let us respond to a data set that we can rely on. Because if you're getting a ranking that's a hollow ranking, you can't make decisions to improve it if it's a moving target. So hey, we're ninth, let's do everything we can to stay ninth or get better. Maybe we'll go to 10th, I don't know, but we're in 10 or nine. But if that was all kind of just happenstance, I don't know, you can't respond to a data point that isn't something that you can rely on.
“So on that first week of the CFP rankings, if we were 17th, or 16th, or 19th, behind Miami, all right, we know where we are. It's gonna be an uphill climb. This is gonna be tough, right? I don't know if we can get in. Let's start thinking about what's next. Let's keep winning, let's keep doing, you know? But at least we know where we stand. That's why we felt like we had the rug pulled from underneath us. We thought we knew where we stood, week in and week out. And then, oh, by the way, here we go, here's the selection show, you know? Just kidding.”
On if Notre Dame didn’t have the rug pulled from under than if they would have skipped the bowl or if they are done playing in non-CFB Playoff bowls:
“The team making the decision not to play in this year's bowl game was a decision solely isolated to this year. We can't speak for future years. We can't speak for what the captains on the team feel like the nature of a season. Maybe you started the season strong and then fell off, and here's a way to turn the corner and reignite momentum and springboard you into the next year. Maybe one year you have an unbelievably young team and you wanna kind of start that maturation process for the next year, but this year, this was a team that had national championship aspirations. This was a team that was unbelievably close knit.
“In the crazy world of major college football emotions, you find out you're not in the CFP and you're shocked. Then you get a call, hey, do you wanna go play in this bowl game? Marcus places a ton of emphasis on the roles of the captains of the team. You saw that if you're watching the Peacock documentary. These aren't just the letter C pasted onto a jersey and kind of a pat on the back. They have a real role in our team and in the decisions the team makes. Week in and week out, he relies on those captains and really treats them as a key element of the decision making process. Bounces things off of them. How's the team feeling? What are we thinking? I think his relationship with the team, but particularly with the captains is magical.
“What he did is he reached out to the captains and said, hey, listen, yeah, this is rough, but let's not make an emotional decision. Let's make a smart decision. Let's take a deep breath. Now granted, you don't have a week to take a deep breath. You don't have 24 hours to take a deep breath. You have a couple of hours. Settle down, reload, as he says, you know, and let's think about this. Talk about it with each other. Get a sense of how the team feels, you know?
“The unanimous message that came back was we are such a close team, those guys in that locker room, that they wanted to make sure that the last team that took the field as part of the 2025 Notre Dame team was the same team that took the field when we got off the plane in Miami. They didn't feel it was right for this team to make the decision to go out there and not be that full team that has been so close together, that's gonna have a great event here in town just to kind of let their hair down tomorrow. That was the decision.
“It was a decision that I applaud. I think it was a hard decision. I think they knew it was gonna be a hard decision. I think they knew it was gonna be a decision that not everybody was gonna love. But it was the right decision for this team at this moment. I'm positive of that. Does that mean that if we're in this situation again in the future, the same decision would be made? No.
“It's year by year, case by case. It was the right decision for this team at this moment.”
On when the page was turned:
“I'd be lying if I were to tell you I wasn't dwelling on it, I'm dwelling on it. We gotta all get over it. Can't forget it because you wanna help the process get better. I think we have an obligation, I have an obligation, I think the university has an obligation to make the process better. It's not like, okay, rear view mirror, forget about that, let's go. No, it's no, wait a second. We don't want Notre Dame to feel that way again.
“We don't want any team to feel that way again. Let's try to do everything we can to correct the system, make it better. So no group of 100+ 18 to 22 year olds aren’t sitting in a room with national championship dreams and they're shattered a moment later without a good explanation. I don't want that to happen to anybody in the country.
What do we do now? Of course, you want to start thinking about ‘26 and what we can do in ‘26, including opening the season at Lambeau against Wisconsin. But the conversations I've also had with Marcus, you have to make sure that this team realizes it was an amazing season. Don't let this moment define the season. You had one of the best seasons in college football. This is in my opinion, and you guys know, I have been a Notre Dame football fan since the day I was born.
“I think this is one of the most talented Notre Dame teams that we've ever had with some of the most talented players we've ever had. Some of the greatest moments we've had this season, like don't, we're not gonna let this ruin this great season. That's not fair to Marcus, our coaches, those student-athletes on the team, those who are leaving us, whether they're seniors or going into the NFL, like we have to honor this season. We have to celebrate this season. This season is not gonna become an unfortunate footnote in the history of Notre Dame football. It's one we're gonna look back on and applaud and celebrate and remember because there were amazing moments.
“One of the best moments I've had at Notre Dame, whether I was a student here or as a young fan, but that Saturday night in the pouring rain against USC, like don't forget that moment for these players when they're 54 years old and thinking back to their college time. It would kill me if they think back at this and say, wow, what a disappointment that season was. It wasn't, it was a magical season. You did amazing things. Let's not forget that. That's our main obligation to those players right now.”
On if the relationship with the ACC can be healed:
“I mean, all things can be healed. I'm not gonna be overly dramatic here, right? But you know, it strained the relationship. It strained the relationship.”
On how Marcus Freeman has handled the last 48 hours:
“He's a competitor. He's a fighter. He'll use this as motivation at the right time. He's got a long memory. This will work to our advantage next year, knowing what I know about Marcus. At this moment, it's taking care of his team. These student-athletes on that team, what's best for them?
“We talked about it on Sunday and Marcus was talking to Mike Denbrock and Ron Powlus and let's do something fun this week for this team. They need something fun. Celebrate this team, honor this team. He'll have conversations with every one of the student athletes on the team. That's where his head is right now. He won't forget. Like I said, he has a long memory. This will be motivation for him. That's for sure going forward.
“What I found surprising, I've taken some flack in certain press outlets for using the term student-athlete. Every one of our 740 or so young men and women who play a sport in Notre Dame, they're student athletes. You ask the guys on that football team, they're student athletes. They're great athletes, but they're students. That is our main responsibility here is not to lose that North Star.
“One of the things they're gonna do now is start getting ready for exams next week and that entered into the decision. It's been a long season and last year was a long season. Let's let these young men get home and spend Christmas and the holidays with their families. And maybe for a few weeks, be like college students and try to enjoy life a little bit after a really tough moment.”
On if he felt lobbying for Notre Dame would have worked in hindsight:
“I went on a few shows Friday and said, you know, why I believed we've earned every right to be in. Marcus did a few interviews. Everybody has different styles, right? Our style, our approach is what we're doing on the field.
“Look at the domination these last 10 weeks. Watch Jeremiyah Love, watch Jadarian Price, watch Leonard Moore, watch Adon Shuler.Look at the development and the maturation of CJ Carr, going from somebody who's never played to, in my opinion, being one of a handful of the very, very best quarterbacks in college football. It was kind of like, hey, if you have this proof on the field, what am I gonna say that's gonna add to that?”
On Marcus Freeman being pursued by other programs and the NFL:
“I would never say we wouldn't match anything when it comes to Marcus. Everybody has eyes on Marcus. College has eyes on Marcus. NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus, right? I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the next, you know, Leo DiCaprio movie with Martin Scorsese. Marcus is Marcus. All the credit to him. He deserves it.
“He's the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop. One of the greatest college coaches in the country. People forget how young he is. So I get it, I get it and that's a compliment to him and his success and the way he represents himself and the way he prepares and who he is and how he talks.
“One of my main obligations and responsibilities to this university is to make sure Marcus wakes up every day knowing that he is supported and valued by Notre Dame. I can say with 100% certainty, he feels that way. Notre Dame is totally aligned around the importance of college football for Notre Dame. We're totally aligned on how he is the perfect coach for Notre Dame.
“It's tough to say he's more than the Notre Dame football coach because being the Notre Dame football coach means so much, but he's more than the Notre Dame football coach. He's part of this university. He's part of the fabric of this university. So is Joanna, so are his kids. He's everywhere. He's at, as you've heard me say before, he's at soccer games, women's and men's basketball games, hockey games, talking to students. He's an amazing individual and an amazing leader.
“We feel blessed that he's our coach. I make sure that he knows that he will be where he deserves to be. That is at the top, top, top tier of college football coaches when it comes to compensation every year. I view his contract, although a multi-year contract is a living, breathing document that we will revise every year as need be to make sure he's where he deserves to be. He knows he has that commitment from me and more importantly from the university.”
On if the ACC smear campaign might have been fueled by Notre Dame taking transfers from ACC programs:
“Up until this moment, I think the relationship between Notre Dame and the ACC has been unbelievably healthy and mutually beneficial. That's, I think, one of the reasons why we were so kind of flabbergasted by this. We don't think about an ACC governor on what we might or might not do in the portal. We have our own governor.
“Whether you were talking to Marcus or Micah or Niele or any one of our coaches, Notre Dame, I mean, we have to be incredibly selective and incredibly precise and opportunistic when it comes to the transfer portal. Notre Dame's a high academic school, as everybody knows. We have to be really selective.
“We have a wonderful relationship with Micki Kidder on our admissions department. We go and we sit with Micki and we say, OK, we're interested in this young man or this young woman, and this is the school they're at, and these are their grades and the courses they've taken. And yes, they're in-person classes and not online classes. Even conversations with transfers from other great academic schools. So we're not one of these schools that are gonna go out there and overhaul a roster, particularly in football. That's not what Marcus wants to do. Yeah, he wants to get a Malachi Fields, a Will Pauling, a Riley Leonard. Has to be really specific, really opportunistic, and get people in who can succeed on the football field, but can succeed here at Notre Dame and have a great Notre Dame experience. That's important for us. I know it's important for him.”
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