Jack Swarbrick to step down as Notre Dame AD, NBC Sports chair Pete Bevacqua tabbed as replacement

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will step down from his function in 2024, the university announced Thursday, with NBC Sports Group chairman and Notre Dame alumnus Pete Bevacqua giving the athletic division a brand new boss for the primary time since 2008. The transition can be finalized “sometime in the first quarter” of subsequent 12 months. 

Bevacqua, a 1993 graduate, will sign up for the athletic division in July as as a different assistant for athletics to Jenkins and mentor below Swarbrick in that function till the transition is entire. 

“This is an unbelievable honor for me and a dream come true. With the exception of my family, nothing means more to me than the University of Notre Dame,” Bevacqua mentioned in a observation. “As a Notre Dame alum, I have a keen understanding and deep appreciation of the lifetime, transformational benefit our student-athletes receive in a Notre Dame education, one that is unique and unlike any other institution in the world. 

“I’m so thankful to [Notre Dame president Reverend John Jenkins], the Board of Trustees and, in fact, Jack Swarbrick,” Bevacqua continued. “Jack has develop into a real good friend over the process the previous a number of years and I’m taking a look ahead to operating along him and finding out as a lot as I will be able to from the individual I like and appreciate probably the most in faculty athletics.”

Swarbrick, 69, will go away a place he has held for 15 years. His tenure as Notre Dame athletic director integrated the hiring of former soccer trainer Brian Kelly, who guided the Fighting Irish to a BCS National Championship look all over the 2012 college football season, and later to a couple of College Football Playoff appearances all over the 2018 and 2020 seasons. Kelly left to develop into LSU’s trainer in overdue 2021.

Additionally, Swarbrick performed a key function in upcoming growth of the College Football Playoff, which is able to develop from 4 to 12 groups starting with the 2024 season. Swarbrick has been a part of the CFP’s control committee, along side the commissioners from the ten FBS meetings. 

“It speaks volumes about Notre Dame and Father Jenkins’ leadership that we can implement such a well-conceived succession plan and attract someone of Pete’s talent and experience,” Swarbrick mentioned. “I have worked closely with Pete throughout his time at NBC and based on that experience, I believe he has the perfect skill set to help Notre Dame navigate the rapidly changing landscape that is college athletics today, and be an important national leader as we look to the future. I look forward to helping Notre Dame’s student-athletes and coaches achieve their goals in the months ahead while also helping Pete prepare for his tenure as athletics director.”

The Notre Dame AD exchange will mark the most recent adjustment to committee after a slew of latest adjustments within the lineup of FBS commissioners. Bob Bowlsby stepped down as Big 12 commissioner in Summer 2022, and Craig Thompson adopted swimsuit in stepping down as Mountain West commissioner on the finish of the 12 months. Kevin Warren moreover left his post as Big Ten commissioner previous in 2023 to develop into the president and CEO of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.