SOUTH BEND — Exactly two months into his tenure as Notre Dame Athletic director Pete Bevacqua celebrated his first national championship with the men’s lacrosse team in Philadelphia.
His predecessor and mentor needed to know what came next.
“I came back and saw Jack Swarbrickwho has been so amazing to me this year,” Bevacqua said in a video produced by the university video podcast. “I said, ‘Jack, this is easy.’ Two months, national championship. I said: ‘At this rate, right? This will be wonderful. “
In a 45-minute discussion with Lou Nanni, vice president of university relations, Bevacqua covered a wide variety of topics, including the path to ending the football program’s national title drought dating back to 1988.
With the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams starting this fall, concerns about access appear to have been quelled for now.
“To win national championships, and we to have To win a national football championship you have to keep knocking on the door,” said Bevacqua. “We will be able to knock on the door much more often than before.”
The former NBC Sports president noted that even as a proud independent, Notre Dame has a little more leeway when it comes to its regular season record.
Recruitment: No reason to wait while Notre Dame football recruits against Marcus Freeman
“If you were Marcus Freeman, I couldn’t even have this conversation,” Bevacqua said of the third-year football coach. “For him it’s being undefeated every year, never losing a game again, and that’s what makes Marcus, Marcus. But I have to play with percentages.
“As independents in a four-team playoff, we would probably have to go undefeated. Maybe we could go 11-1, but that’s risky. When it comes to 12 teams, maybe 14 teams some years, 12-0, 11-1, 10-2 looks really good.”
Despite a longtime friendship with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, a former Major League Baseball chief operating officer and frequent golf partner, Bevacqua made it clear that independence still suits Notre Dame very well.
“I feel better about our independence sitting here now than I did when I first took office,” said Bevacqua, who spent eight months shadowing Swarbrick before the official handover. “Independence is part of the DNA of Notre Dame football. I believe that strongly.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com.
This article originally appeared in the South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua on his way to national football title
