Notre Dame makes big change at athletic director by hiring NBC bigwig

Jack Swarbrick has been the athletic director for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish since 2008. The school announced that Swarbrick's time as the respected head of Notre Dame athletics will be coming to an end in 2024, though.

Swarbrick will be stepping down, per president Rev. John I. Jenkins, and in his place will be a new face: NBS Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua.

Bevacqua is a Notre Dame alumni (having graduated in 1993) and he has one heck of a resume as far as the Fighting Irish are concerned. He's been the chairman at NBC Sports since 2020 and was the president of the organization for two years before that.

He oversaw NBC Sports' coverage of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Major League Baseball, the English Premier League, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and more. Perhaps most important to the Irish is the fact that he's been extremely plugged into NBC's exclusive broadcast rights agreement with Notre Dame football.

As such, he knows Swarbrick well and will, in fact, start his career at Notre Dame as a special assistant to the president for athletics so that he can learn under Swarbrick before eventually replacing him in early 2024.

“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 said in a statement. “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.”

For as impressive as Bevacqua is, Swarbrick put together quite a tenure at Notre Dame. 

He was among the group of people who put together the new 12-team College Football Playoff model that will debut in 2024. He also worked out deals to bring the Fighting Irish into the ACC while keeping the football program independent, while also bringing the hockey team into the Big Ten.

Across all sports, Notre Dame won eight national championships under Swarbrick.