Notre Dame is taking 2017 off from the Shamrock Series. When it comes back, expect to see an improvement in opponents.
With the remodeled Notre Dame Stadium set to be finished in 2017, playing seven home games is a natural fit. But with the neutral-site series set to return in 2018, athletic director Jack Swarbrick has grand plans for improving the series that’s taken the Irish to some iconic venues, but has lacked much punch when it comes to high-profile opponents.
Speaking exclusively with Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated, Swarbrick laid out some grand plans for the revitalization of the game.“When the opponent and the venue and the place all contribute to the story, that’s when it works the best,” Swarbrick told Irish Illustrated. “I still want to maintain that. The difference will be that many more of them now will be led by the opponent.
“Now it can be, ‘I got this opponent.’ Now where can we go with them that works with what we’re trying to do?”
With Notre Dame returning to San Antonio for the second time in the Shamrock Series and repeating an opponent with Army as well, it’s clear that this year’s game checked off some other boxes when it got decided. Swarbrick acknowledged some of the restrictions that have held him back, with the reboot of Notre Dame’s schedule with five ACC games and other television considerations really limiting the team’s options.
Also, Jack Swarbrick said international games (plural) are in the works https://t.co/F7zHb1VIUC
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) May 27, 2016
Next Shamrock Series upgrade? Opponents
“What we’ve been able to do in the Shamrock Series to this point is limit ourselves to games we already had scheduled that we would move,” Swarbrick told Sampson. “It was a very small range of people that we could do these deals without getting into television conflicts. With more lead time we have the runway we need to make these games, the three pieces of it – geography, venue and opponent – come together a little bit more.”
Rumors of new venues aren’t new. Brian Kelly has discussed Lambeau Field before. There’s been talk of a game in Rome. And rumblings of Michigan’s return to the schedule won’t go away.
Just recently Kelly tweeted out a picture from another venue that wouldn’t be too shabby.
Quick trip to Stadio Penzo in Venice, Italy for a Shamrock Series site visit.
— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) May 9, 2016
Am I kidding? You be the judge. pic.twitter.com/tnVDdxeEWt
But there’s an opening for another step forward for the program and Swarbrick is the right man to lead the change. He’s already led the Irish athletic department through a move to the ACC and helped navigate the “seismic changes” that resulted in the College Football Playoff. With the ambitious Campus Crossroads project near complete this seems like a perfect next project for the head of Irish athletics to take on.