In today's South Bend Tribune, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick claimed he did not interview anyone for the head coaching position and that he knew Charlie Weis was still his man to get the Fighting Irish back to the promise land.
Unfortunately for Jack, I've got one word for you: BULLSHIT!
If Mr. Swarbrick knew about these realizations of retaining Weis, why did it take so long to make the announcement?
And indecisiveness was not a factor, Swarbrick insists, in why it took four days after Saturday night's 38-3 waxing by USC to make an announcement. Finding a day when he could meet in person with Weis was a critical step, but not the first.
"The analysis took a lot of time," he said. "I talked to a lot of people. I gathered a lot of information and it had to involve a substantive and lengthy discussion with the coach. You can only do it on the timetable you can do it on. And frankly I'm skeptical that there's any cause and effect between those four days and the decision any recruit makes."
First off, it has become widely documented (ESPN and Irish Illustrated.com) that both Charlie Weis and Jack Swarbrick did, indeed, speak with each other after the Southern Cal game. Weis flat out asked Swarbrick last Sunday if he should be going out hitting the recruiting trail, and was told to do so by the first year athletic director.
If Swarbrick knew he was going to retain him and spoke with Weis, why did he have to wait till December 8th to make any announcement?
Secondly, Swarbrick was quoted as saying he didn't interview anyone, "I didn't do it," he said. "No one representing the university did it. I didn't authorize any intermediary or third party to do it. It just didn't happen."
Interesting, because in that same story in the South Bend Tribune and Irish Illustrated.com both are citing Swarbrick as saying he did contact others.
“…polled resources from across the sporting spectrum, tapping the expertise of sources in the NFL, college football and inside Notre Dame. Swarbrick said the feedback confirmed his preconceptions and let him reach a conclusion before meeting Weis back on campus on Dec. 8.”
So what exactly and who were these sources Jack was trying to gauge from? Why was he out on the West Coast for four days after the Southern Cal game?
If he knew all along, why did he wait so long? It just doesn't make sense to prolong an announcement if he wasn't looking around. Basically Swarbrick is not being truthful about his dealings.
The Burning Questions to Ask Swarbrick:
Q. Why did you wait so long?
A. Because he was getting the final word from feelers about their interest in the coaching position.
Q. Why were you on the West Coast for over four days?
A. Is it because Urban Meyer's agent was on the West Coast, and that Boise, Idaho is not too far off the beaten path.
Q. Why did media leak the return of Weis hours after Cincinnati's Brian Kelly was reported as saying he is not interested in other coaching jobs?
A. Because Swarbrick and Jenkins could not land Kelly, as he used ND as a leverage piece to negotiate more to his contract.
Q. Why lie about not looking around and contacting others about the position?
A. Swarbrick didn't want this to affect recruiting, even though it would no matter what the outcome will be. Also he didn't want to reveal that ND was snubbed by a home run candidate (Bob Stoops), a proven winner with an out clause to come to Notre Dame (Urban Meyer), a perfect fit for central casting (Brian Kelly), and a up and coming offensive genius from a Mid-Major (Chris Petersen).
If you look at the big picture of this, Jack Swarbrick is a lawyer through and through. He's a spin doctor and will say anything to not only make himself look good, but show he was supportive of Charlie Weis from the get go.
I hate to break it to ya, but Lawyers lie. Heck they defend criminals, don't they?
At least it would have been a good sign to know that he was going out looking for the best possible coach out there to turn this ship around. It would have shown that he is looking out for the best interest of this program and university.
Instead he stands by a coach who lost to their first 8-loss team, and has the worst 2-year loss total in school history. What makes this worse is the fact that Notre Dame is now third in All-Time wins and is falling fast!
He needed to try something, because Weis is just not getting the job done in developing players and putting a winning program out on the field. Hopefully this is not a sign of Simple Jack's predecessor!
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack is totally full of shit!
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