Hour 3 – Sign-off from South Bend, Pete Bevacqua

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Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

00:00:05
Speaker 2: It is beautiful. It is beautiful here. This is football weather right here makes you want to hit somebody. No not, Todd, No, I do not.

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Speaker 3: I screwed you up twice already.

00:00:19
Speaker 4: I want you to pick up your spirits. All right.

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Speaker 5: I feel bad. I feel bad. I had the wrong Fox Big Moon.

00:00:23
Speaker 2: Come on now, come on, come on. Crowd's on your side.

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Speaker 5: It's very it's very calm.

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Speaker 2: We're not but the crowd is on your Todd Todd, Todd, Todd.

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Speaker 6: I hate making mistakes, especially when it affects other people.

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Speaker 4: Nobody likes making mistakes.

00:00:42
Speaker 2: But we move on. It's okay, like a pick six, Yes, yes, you got to come back. And there's no.

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Speaker 6: Excuse for the mistakes. I ad mate, were like, that's the significant thing when you're.

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Speaker 4: Introducing all right.

00:00:53
Speaker 2: So it's to meat Friday here and we do have our trigger grills here. We have burgers, we have brats, we have meat balls, first seared porterhouses who has it better than we do? Thank you, Thank you to Heartland Stakes providing the meet here. We got the Traeger's, got chef Iq meat thermometers there. We're good to go. Son is out and it's been a great stay.

00:01:17
Speaker 4: I had a lot of fun here.

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Speaker 2: I think I came first time of heer was forty eight years ago when I came with my brother to see a basketball game dating against Notre Dame. I became friends with Digger Phelps, hall of Fame coach, longtime Notre Dame coach, and I told the story that he recruited me with a letter. That's one of those where an alumni in your area said, you know, we should be interested in you, and got a form letter from Digger Phelps. He signed it, and then a couple of weeks later, I got a letter back and said we're no longer interested in recruiting you, which seemed kind of mean spirited. They could have just kind of left it hanging there. Yeah.

00:01:56
Speaker 7: See, it kind of feels like the booster that saw you gives enough money that you got the letter, but not enough money that they really recruited you. Is that like we gave it a booster, right, you spend this much money, We're gonna send Patrick that letter?

00:02:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know, I mean that's Notre Dame's loss, really it is, And I think it hurts them to this day, they.

00:02:14
Speaker 7: Had a chance to sign mister Outside and they chose not to.

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Speaker 2: Are they crazy? And I took my talent to the University of Dayton. Yeah, and the rest is history. Yes, it is, yes, Paul.

00:02:24
Speaker 8: My first Notre Dame home football game, I was ten years old. My uncle and we had a park like way far away and he got tickets and there were nosebley tickets. But it was sunny and I can remember the goal of the helmets when they ran out, and it was better than on TV because we didn't have HDTVs back then.

00:02:39
Speaker 3: And that was it. You're done when once you see it in person.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's certain there's certain helmets in USC's helmet is gorgeous as well.

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Speaker 4: Gorgeous it is.

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Speaker 2: I hated it growing up because they were always better than Ohio State. Whenever Ohio State would play USC and the Rose Bowl and I go, they're gonna lose and USC. I remember whatnineteen sixty eight when I watched OJ Simpson running in the Rose Bowl and I'm like, that guy's different than all the other running backs that I've seen. But coming out here, and you know what is great is the stands are right on the field, like there's there's not a lot of separation from the stands to the field, and that atmosphere, it's wonderful atmosphere. It's a shame it's going to rain. I think tomorrow night.

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Speaker 8: It's getting them a little better. I just checked the weather report. The first half should be decent, yes, Marvin.

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Speaker 5: No, I agreed. I just shook my head.

00:03:32
Speaker 4: Oh oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Pauli.

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Speaker 8: I think the other thing that's interesting about Notre Dame Stadium when you go inside, it's not chock full of ads and there's lots of distractions.

00:03:41
Speaker 3: It's a much cleaner college football experience.

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Speaker 8: And like even back when I was younger, you know, when everyone else had jumbo trons, they didn't go with the jumbo trons yet, And then you'd see it play and then you look up.

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Speaker 3: There's nothing to look up at and you got to focus to the game.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but you go in, it's not as large as you think it is. You know, before the renovation, I'm ever going in and oh wait, that's it. But on TV it looked huge, Yes, Paulie, oh yes, Todd.

00:04:05
Speaker 6: This may be ignorant, especially to the local group here, but when did they change from did they ever have like Notre Dame in fighting arts or anything in the end zones? What made them go like just diagonal lines without like the name Notre Dame or anything like that.

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Speaker 8: I don't know the history of it, but if you look back in the fifties, sixties and seventies, most of the en zones didn't have anything in them. They had plane or crossed lines like chalk, just so they could know the difference.

00:04:26
Speaker 3: And Notre Dame kind of stayed with those longer than most.

00:04:29
Speaker 2: Stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the program. We will talk to Pete Bbakua. He's the Notre Dame Athletic Director. When you look at the Totem poll of powerful people in college football, Pete's right there, right there with Greg sank Tony Pettiti. He is the commissioner of the Big Ten. Sank you of course the SEC. But we'll talk to Pete, who took over for Jack Swarbrick, who was one of the most powerful people in college football. So poll question seating for the final hour of the pro it is going to be.

00:05:01
Speaker 7: Yeah, we got two up there right now. We just put up not too long ago. How long will Kurt Signetti's contract last? Over four years or under? You're skewing that negatively. I thought maybe it was when he was going to resign. I don't know, or maybe it's when he's no longer there for whatever reason. Right now, fifty two percent of the audience have it under four years. Oh no, I don't know what that means. Just for your interpretation.

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Speaker 5: Okay, yes, Marvin, he's the safest coach in America, right. I guess as they can win seven games and they'll be all right, you're.

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Speaker 7: Making a lot of money now to win seven games.

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Speaker 5: They can win eight games and obrr yeah that's good.

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Speaker 4: No, I think it's different now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, like a cute story. Can you do it again? Hey, we're paying you to be great every single year. You know, Marcus Freeman in his fifth year, I would think that he's up there among the safest coaches. Remember Ryan Day, you know, you lose to Michigan. Then all of a sudden, it's like, uh, do we need to move on from Ryan Day? And then he won a national championship.

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Speaker 8: Yes, but I think what Marve was saying though, if you look at a guy like Lane Kiffin at Old Miss, he rows them up.

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Speaker 3: He's raised them up.

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Speaker 8: But in the eighties and nineties Old Miss would love to be over five hundred. Yeah, they win the tailgate every year when they would love to have some nice football games. Now he's raised up Old Miss. I think if he had an off year or two at Old Miss, he'd probably survive it, while other schools.

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Speaker 5: He might not.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we look at it and we go, hey, that's a great story. But then you want continuity if you're paying for that. You know, Texas Tech they spend all that money, you know in the nil and the portal. It's a cute story this year, but now what happens next year and then the year after that. Indiana a couple of years ago, who was the head coach, Tom al Mallen. Yeah, you know, great story until it wasn't a great story. Then all of a sudden, you know, you had Michael Pennix there, and then it didn't become a great story anymore. But the turnover in college football, though, you're going to have more of these team smu Arizona State that come out of nowhere and they're gonna knock some of these so called.

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Speaker 4: Blue Bloods out of the picture. It's gonna happen.

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Speaker 2: Texas Tech is probably a playoff team this year, so somebody's gonna get knocked out. And you see what's happening at Florida State Florida, they may lose their coaches. It's a quick turnaround, man. It's what have you done for me lately? And if I'm paying you eleven million dollars at Indiana, you better be great, not just hey, thank you for making us, not you know, an embarrassment. It's we want to be competing for a title here, yes, Mark.

00:07:37
Speaker 5: But are the Boosters going to pay that buyout? Like you know what, You've only won eight games instead of the four you were winning beforehand, and now we just got to get rid of you, and he.

00:07:45
Speaker 2: Just signed the contract. We can't now we're getting to a buyout.

00:07:49
Speaker 5: From I thought this is a good sports radio com Yes.

00:07:51
Speaker 2: Big big boy football now yeah, yeah, okay, uh Baseball. Last night the Dodgers they are on the verge of keeping the Brewers and the Blue Jays handled the Mariners eight two that's tied to to apiece, and the Bengals over the Steelers surprise, surprise, Joe Flacco throws for three touchdowns. Time to play the most must win game of the weekend, otherwise known as the mmwgg W. PAULI you want to go first.

00:08:21
Speaker 8: I'd love to go first. I was going to go Indiana Michigan State tomorrow. Kurt Signetti is a twenty seven point favorite tomorrow against Michigan State. Can you imagine if somehow he lost that game. Now, I'm taking out the board because it's probably not possibile.

00:08:34
Speaker 2: But you already put the bad vibes out there. I know we shouldn't be doing this.

00:08:37
Speaker 8: I was just thinking, can you imagine losing that game? I'm going to go with Georgia Tech Football. They're twelve right now. Nobody's talking about them. They're six and oho. They're at Duke, and Duke is quality. They're not a bad team. You get past Duke, you've got some winnable games, and you finish with Georgia.

00:08:52
Speaker 3: They could be in the playoffs.

00:08:53
Speaker 4: Hey, Marvin. The most must win game of the weekend.

00:08:56
Speaker 5: The Philadelphia Eagles. They're wing a little bit of a losing streak, and if they lose this third rate Nick Sirianni, there's some trouble brewing.

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Speaker 4: Who did the Eagles play the Vikings Vikings? That's right, yep?

00:09:09
Speaker 5: Are you Sirianni?

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Speaker 4: You're calling him out?

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Speaker 5: Huh, there's some trouble brewing. He's never not on the hot seat.

00:09:14
Speaker 4: I know, even when he won a Super Bowl.

00:09:17
Speaker 5: That don't matter. Doug Peterson one and eighteen months later, deuces.

00:09:22
Speaker 4: Why are you yelling at me?

00:09:24
Speaker 5: I'll just be I'll just give him my opinion.

00:09:26
Speaker 4: Okay, sound like you were yelling at me. All of a sudden.

00:09:30
Speaker 2: You put on the Notre Dame hockey sweatshirt and you think you're a tough guy.

00:09:33
Speaker 5: I'm on Marvin O. Prince right here.

00:09:36
Speaker 2: Todd the mm W goot w after losing their first two winning the next three.

00:09:42
Speaker 5: I want to believe in Paulie's Bears.

00:09:44
Speaker 6: I think for them to make a statement, it's very important to go to four and two.

00:09:47
Speaker 5: They've got to beat the Saints at Soldier Field.

00:09:50
Speaker 6: And prove that they're one of the better teams in the NFC.

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Speaker 2: The Saints are getting four and a half.

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Speaker 4: Does that make you nervous?

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Speaker 3: It's a little close. It's like it's all tight.

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Speaker 4: They're the Saints.

00:10:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, but Spencer Rattlers had him in a few games.

00:10:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you the Bears, aren't you supposed to be turning the corner gear.

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Speaker 8: I've seen a lot of corners missed by the Bears over the years. A lot of they went straight and they missed the turn.

00:10:16
Speaker 4: Seaton the most most win game of the weekend.

00:10:19
Speaker 7: I'm gonna go Syracuse Football. Whoa deep cut, Syria. I'm going deep cut on you guys, Syracuse. They are hosting Pitt this week. They're currently three and three. They have Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami, Notre Dame, Boston College coming up. If they want to get into a bowl game, they absolutely have to beat Pitt this weekend.

00:10:38
Speaker 2: And you got that coach fran Brown, who is highly thought of.

00:10:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, I like that dude.

00:10:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, his name came up with Penn State. Well there, it's everybody's name comes up with Penn State. Yeah, I'm surprised Lane Kiffin's name hasn't come up with Penn State. Feels like, you know, hey, or you make sure that your agent tells somebody in the media, you know, Penn State's interested in my client, Okay, and then you put it out and next thing, you know that guy's got a contract extension. That's kind of how it works, all right. So poll question for the final hour the program is gonna be what seton?

00:11:14
Speaker 7: Yeah, we just put up the signetti one there. It's getting a great reaction people. I do like this sort of negative versus positive on that we also had up there. How much will the Steelers regret last night's loss? Right now? Sixty two percent of the audience say they're going to miss that a ton.

00:11:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, we always look back, We should look back.

00:11:31
Speaker 2: We don't do it enough where we tend to look at the last two games of the regular season instead of you know, those games in the start, like the Bengals against the Patriots last year, and I went, oh, this is going to be bad. It's going to be bad. This will come back and haunt the Bengals, and it did. They missed the playoffs by a game.

00:11:48
Speaker 8: Yeah, Pauline, we're calling yesterday's game by the Steelers and Bengals the MIGOTSSF the most impactful game of the season so far.

00:11:57
Speaker 3: New category so far? Yeah, so far?

00:11:59
Speaker 2: Okay, wait, that's the most impactful game of the season so far.

00:12:03
Speaker 8: Yes, because it totally opens up the division now the Bengals can play for what and try to get Joe Burrow back and think like we have a shot here if Lamar Jackson can come back and think all we need is a three game winning streaker. Right back in this the Steelers were holding serve you said it last week, just hold serve they didn't they flinched most impactful game of the season so far.

00:12:22
Speaker 2: Do you guys agree with that that that's the most impactful game of the season, Marvin.

00:12:27
Speaker 5: I'm going to go with the Patriots winning at the Bills.

00:12:29
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:12:29
Speaker 5: I think that's a big game changer right there. Now we have debated they have the tiebreaker.

00:12:34
Speaker 4: Oh so you threw that out just so we would have it a debate.

00:12:37
Speaker 2: I see what you the pot stir Oh okay, classic tod do you have.

00:12:40
Speaker 6: Once while he's the producer, I kind of agree with Paula.

00:12:44
Speaker 2: I know he's not gonna like that.

00:12:44
Speaker 5: He's going to want to change his mind.

00:12:46
Speaker 3: Trying to distance myself, I'm trying to distance.

00:12:48
Speaker 6: I think he makes a very valid point about what's going on in the FC North.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: I like the way he presented Now, okay, all right, and.

00:12:54
Speaker 7: I GOTSSF Buccaneers Seahawks Week five, thirty eight thirty five. I think that's probably a bigger game. That's just me, Okay, that's just my opinion.

00:13:03
Speaker 2: By the way, there's a Sam Darnald Panini card behind Pauli and call it. And so when we tear down this stage the stage here, Pauli goes.

00:13:13
Speaker 4: I got, I got that, that's mine.

00:13:14
Speaker 2: I go. You can take it off the wall right now? Really, oh yeah, giving it to me and you can put it right by your desk. As a Sam darnaldist, yes, nobody.

00:13:23
Speaker 4: Loves Sam Darnold as much as you do.

00:13:25
Speaker 7: Look at the you have Jerome Bettison and I do. Look at his shoulder pads, well, back then were huge. They're almost as tall as his head.

00:13:34
Speaker 2: Wasn't it. Clay Matthews the first guy to have small shoulder pads. He definitely had small like he had Pop Warner shoulder pads. But if you look at at Earl Campbell's shoulder.

00:13:47
Speaker 4: Pads, they were huge, huge. Yeah, but back then you did have big shoulder pads.

00:13:53
Speaker 2: Now these guys don't have knee pads, hip pads, thigh pads, and they have small shoulder pads.

00:13:58
Speaker 5: Yes, Marvin, they have legging for football pants.

00:14:00
Speaker 3: It's like capri pants.

00:14:01
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's nothing, no thigh, no knee, no nothing.

00:14:05
Speaker 2: But the coaches are wearing the capri pants to their press conferences.

00:14:09
Speaker 8: Mike McDaniel down in Miami, he is the worst thing about him is not as win lost records, is how he dresses for games.

00:14:17
Speaker 2: Well, Aaron Glenn, did the capri pants?

00:14:19
Speaker 4: Disagree?

00:14:20
Speaker 7: A grated disagree?

00:14:21
Speaker 3: Look at their records combined, capre pants equal losses. Yeah, everyone knows that.

00:14:28
Speaker 2: Well.

00:14:28
Speaker 7: I can't argue with that, but I'm gonna say.

00:14:31
Speaker 2: You're okay with Mike McDaniel capri pants.

00:14:33
Speaker 7: I love Mike McDaniel. I everything that he does.

00:14:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that.

00:14:37
Speaker 7: I wish that he was a little more like protected his quarterbacks a little bit more. I don't really like that, but in terms of his style and personal demeanor, that's my guy.

00:14:45
Speaker 2: Love them and you're okay with the capri pants?

00:14:48
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, I mean I'm not gonna wear them, but I don't mind his coopreepants. Go ahead, dude, looks good.

00:14:52
Speaker 5: Yeah, Marvin, I don't know about the pants, but I do enjoy the twenty monthana scarface sunglasses that he wears sometimes when it's sunny out, boy, I'm about to sell a whole brick, well.

00:15:03
Speaker 2: Him, yeah, well, no, allegedly it looks.

00:15:07
Speaker 5: Like he's about to sell a whole bit.

00:15:09
Speaker 7: And he said that locker room is too polluted, and they.

00:15:14
Speaker 2: Talk about tour there.

00:15:16
Speaker 7: Okay, you're not quite a little.

00:15:17
Speaker 5: Help me back.

00:15:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he's got to protect his quarterback on the field and out of Prescott yesterday.

00:15:22
Speaker 4: That's the problem. And he can only do so much there.

00:15:25
Speaker 5: Yes, Harvin, the best part about that whole thing is for for us. That is amazing what he says during press conferences. Dolphins PR, somebody's got to talk to tour because that is PR's worst nightmare.

00:15:38
Speaker 2: They should just get quotes from him, the PR department, uh, with the Dolphins and just say, give me some quotes and then we'll pass them on to the media. When he gets in front of the that live microphone, it is not good. Or I would do ai with him, and you know, just say we got to control this because when he gets in front of a live audience the media, man doesn't go, well, all right, we'll take a break. He's a pretty powerful guy in sports. He's Pete Babakwa, Notre Dame athletic Director. He will join us coming up next year live from South Bend. Dan Patrick Show.

00:16:12
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

00:16:22
Speaker 2: Pauley Foods Gohea with Tony Foodsco. Yeah.

00:16:24
Speaker 9: As everybody knows, we're of the hosts of the award winning Polly and Tony Foodsco Show. Yeah, but instead of us telling you how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show.

00:16:34
Speaker 2: Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

00:16:37
Speaker 7: What are you doing interrupting our promo?

00:16:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, you wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally out of context.

00:16:44
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you out and beat you.

00:16:48
Speaker 2: Let me put this into context.

00:16:50
Speaker 7: Shut up.

00:16:51
Speaker 9: Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Paully and Tony Fosco Show on Iart Radio, Apple podcasts oherever you get your podcasts.

00:16:57
Speaker 2: Ye. I forgot about this, but our next guest, he's the athletic director here at Notre Dame Pete Babakua. I think he was my boss at NBC and ecock at one point, although I never saw him, I don't know if we had any communication. Yes, Paul, that's the best kind of boss. Yeah, but I just remembered he worked at NBC Sports and ran NBC Sports, but I didn't come in contact with it, yeah, Paul.

00:17:22
Speaker 3: Then he went in the portal and Notre Dame picked up.

00:17:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, they did. But the nil, I mean, he's done a really good job here as we welcome the Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Babakwa. Thanks guys, thank you. Oh whoa, Okay, what have we got? We got gifts here?

00:17:41
Speaker 10: Oh our new our new hockey jersey.

00:17:45
Speaker 2: Okay, so this is the unveiling of the hockey jersey that will be on display.

00:17:52
Speaker 10: Wow, tonight we're gonna We're gonna wear it tonight. We play tonight again against Saint Lawrence. We had a nice victory. I think a bunch of you guys ye there, Yeah, they were there. I had a nice victory last night at ATE two and hopefully we can keep it going.

00:18:04
Speaker 4: That is awesome.

00:18:05
Speaker 10: We also I have some of your old performance reviews. Oh you do, yeah, sit down and talk about that.

00:18:12
Speaker 4: Wait, were you my boss.

00:18:13
Speaker 10: At some point I was yeah, yeah, but why didn't I talk to you? You know, I was busy, and.

00:18:18
Speaker 2: Why didn't you talk to me?

00:18:20
Speaker 4: I talked, Did you think I did a good job?

00:18:23
Speaker 10: I thought you did a really good job.

00:18:24
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, yeah. Why am I not there anymore?

00:18:28
Speaker 10: There's there's new bosses.

00:18:33
Speaker 2: Great to talk to you. And I mentioned this. I don't know if I'm overstating it. You probably would think I am. But I look at Sanky and Patiti and I look at you, as you know, probably the three most important people in college football, the SEC commissioner, Big Ten and you here at Notre Dame, and you take over for Jack Swarbrick, who was one of the most influential people we probably had with this sport. Sometime, do you feel like you guys are the gatekeepers here? And if so, what goes along with that?

00:19:04
Speaker 10: Well, I would tell you, first of all, it's not me. It's Notre Dame. I mean, Notre Dame is are in that position. You talk about the history of Notre Dame football, the power Notre Dame football, the power of the brand. I'm the caretaker of that, you know, and I couldn't be more honored or feel more fortunate to be in this position, and I take that responsibility very very seriously. That I'm in that room having those conversations with Greg Sankey, Tody Petiti, Jimmy Phillips at the ACC, Brett Yormark at the Big Twelve, and others, and you know, we have a very definite point of view, We have a perspective what Notre Dame believes in. Being independent in the space, as you've mentioned in the past, is certainly a unique attribute to the position we hold in college football, and it's a great privilege to be in that room. I love being in that room. I love being a part of those conversations, and we're hall hopefully united and aligned in certainly doing what's best. A commissioner has to always have the perspective of what's best for his or her conference. I have to have the perspective of what's best for Notre Dame. But I think we all hope to share a common ground of what's best for the future health of college football.

00:20:12
Speaker 2: Okay, but what is that There have been different models that have been put out there, and I just it feels like it's inevitable we're going to get to an NFL or Premier league type of format. Could you get sixty teams fifty forty teams and almost secede from the NCAA.

00:20:29
Speaker 10: Yeah, Dan, there's the concept of this super league. Are there twenty four to thirty teams that extricate themselves from the college football space and create a mini NFL? I, for one, I think that's a horrible mistake. College football is not the NFL.

00:20:42
Speaker 5: We shouldn't be.

00:20:43
Speaker 10: The NFL were something different. We're something that's special. The crowds, the alumni bases, the fact that these are eighteen to twenty one year olds that change and graduate. There's a power to that. And I think in trying to replicate the NFL model, where there might be some more revenue there, particularly from a media standpoint, I think we'll ruin what's special. We won't look like the NFL, will look like a small version, a compromise version of the NFL, and we'll lose what's so special about what's going to happen here tomorrow night. When you have two great, storied programs from great schools coming together, this wonderful rivalry, you know you have the Notre Dame USC's the Ohio State, Michigan's that's what makes college football so special.

00:21:27
Speaker 2: But we're losing these rivalries. We may lose USC Notre Dame.

00:21:30
Speaker 10: Well, I would say, and I can't speak for USC, but in the conversations we've had, I think both schools, both administrations are committed to keeping this series alive. We've had a lot of positive conversations with USC. They're continuing literally around the clock, my hope and I think USC shares this, and I know they share it. We want to keep this series going. It's so special, it's stay. I'll be the first two minutes. It's great for Notre Dame. I think it's great for USC, and maybe most importantly, I think it's great for college football. This is one of those rivalries that defined college football, define the sport, the greatest intersectional rivalry that there is, and I think the public deserves it. I think the college fans deserve it. All the pageantry of a Notre Dame USC game. You think about the importance of this game over the history of college football. How many national championships were influenced and determined the Heisman Trophy winners. And I understand, you know, with the Big Ten the conference schedules, you know, more conference matchups. That's tough, that's difficult travel for USC now that they're in the Big Ten. But you know, I just think college football deserves it. I know we feel that way. I know USC feels that way. And you know, for us, we're lucky that we have a long list of really prominent teams that want to play us. They want to do home and homes, they want us to come to their stadiums, they want to come here to Notre Dame. And you know, that's great, and that's a fortunate position be in. And that's the power of Notre Dame and the power of the program under coach Freeman. But there's something really special about Notre Dame USC, and no matter how either team season is going, anything can happen. You can make a team a more difficult road to a national championship, you can have an upset. It's just a wonderful history there that I hope we don't lose.

00:23:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so why are we at this point where we have to negotiate around the clock to keep this going. If everybody understands the beauty of this rivalry, the importance of this rivalry.

00:23:30
Speaker 10: I think it's scheduling and now the Big Ten schedule and the nine games that they play. When you look at our schedule into the future, and we're talking about moments in the calendar month, that makes sense for us and for USC. I think there's no secret that USC would like to play our game earlier in the season. So I'm working hand in hand with somebody who's so important to our program, Ron Palace, who's a name everybody knows, and Ron is kind of mapping out what our future looks like twenty six, twenty seven, well into the thirties, and where could we position this game. So it's a win win for us when we go out there and when USC comes here and visits. I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic. Nothing is finalized, but I'm optimistic that we'll get something done.

00:24:13
Speaker 2: He's a Pete Bubaqua Notre Dame athletic director. But I understand from USC's perspective, it feels like Notre Dame may need USC more than USC needs Notre Dame because Notre Dame has a tough Big Ten schedule and they don't want to jeopardize, you know, another loss, because if you have three losses you're not going to make like Tomorrow's an elimination game. It feels like for Notre Dame.

00:24:34
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think it's you know, we you know, we have a tough schedule this year. We opened up with two very tough competitive games, obviously with Miami, who's now I think number two in the country in Texas A and m We lost to Miami by three points. There in our opening game, we lost to Texas A and m here by a point. Then we've you know, we've had this great stretch of four victories in a row. But no, hey, no doubt about it.

00:24:55
Speaker 2: If we want to.

00:24:55
Speaker 10: Make the CFP, and we do, we got to go win tomorrow night. We know that our t knows that, Marcus knows that. But I'll push back on you. I think this game is just as important for us as it is for Notre Dame, and just as important for college football. And if you're USC, you want this tradition, you want to play Notre Dame. You want Notre Dame to come out to the coliseum. You know, just like when USC's here, we'll pack the house the South Bend. There'll be one hundred more thousand people coming into South Bend even people who can't get in the stadium just to be a part of the pageantry in the atmosphere. Well, that happens when we go out to the coliseum. It's packed. The surrounding area is packed. It has such a benefit for the campus, for the community. And when you take two great historic brands from wonderful schools and you're able to have this great contest on the football field year in and year out, there's tremendous value for the entire ecost.

00:25:49
Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to lose it, but I don't want to lose Notre Dame in Michigan.

00:25:53
Speaker 4: Well I would.

00:25:55
Speaker 10: I'd love to play Michigan, you know, And I think that's something we're going to work to. I think that's one you know, I think back to my time here. I graduated in nineteen ninety three.

00:26:05
Speaker 2: If you join the Big Ten, then you get to play these teams. Yeah, but we just letting you know.

00:26:10
Speaker 10: I hear you and the Big Ten. Hey, now, there's was it ever close? Big Ten's a wonderful conference. I don't think it was ever close. You know, there's the Big Ten, the SEC, the Big twelve, the ACC. As you know, we're a member of the ACC for twenty four of our twenty six sports or Big ten in hockey, and obviously independent in football. I think it's a great time to be independent. And we're sure we're a unicorn, but we have a wonderful relationship with NBC thirty five years in counting. We have the luxury and we're fortunate to schedule great teams. Think about this year, we had Miami, Texas A and m we play USC Going into the future, we have Alabama, we have Texas, we have some others that were close to announcing. And I love the fact that the freedom we have from playing teams that make sense, playing in areas that we want to play in, whether it's going to New York City, going out to Los Angeles, playing in the Yankee Stadium next year, opening up the season in Lambeau against Wisconsin, going to Ireland, thinking hey, can we go play a game in Mexico City. You have the luxury of that when you're independent. But to be independent, you have to be good and we know that, and that's an obligation, that's a responsibility.

00:27:24
Speaker 2: We have to be good.

00:27:24
Speaker 10: We have to stay relevant. We have to knock on that national championship door, year in and year out, because to stay independent, we have to be impossible to ignore. You have to be a unicorn, but you don't want to. You can't let the unicorn get starved. And that's tremendous pressure on the program, on our athletic department, on coach Freeman. But it's pressure that we welcome and I think we thrive on.

00:27:48
Speaker 2: If you add the deciding vote of expanding the playoffs from twelve to let's say sixteen, one.

00:27:54
Speaker 10: Hundred percent answer, in my opinion, sixteen teams is the way we should go. Five automatical fires, one each for the power for conference champions, one for the highest CHI five G five champion, eleven at large.

00:28:07
Speaker 2: Prove it on the field.

00:28:08
Speaker 10: If we're lucky enough to be in, we're in. If because we're independent, we have three losses or four losses and we're out, we're out. I think there's almost unanimity in that feeling, and I hope that's where we end up. I feel passionate about that. I think it's the best thing for college football. I think it's the best thing for the future college football. Look at the top ten this year, Look at the different teams in there. Look at the success that Texas Tech is having.

00:28:36
Speaker 4: You want that.

00:28:37
Speaker 10: You want every team to wake up at the end of the summer and they as they go into their first game and say, hey, if we do it, if we get it done, if we go twelve and zero, if we go eleven and one, if we schedule tough opponents and have a strong strength to schedule, we can earn our way in there. Nobody wants a head start. That's not the way to do it. We want to prove that we can identify a true national championship, a team that's earned in on the field.

00:29:02
Speaker 2: And I feel very strongly yeah.

00:29:03
Speaker 4: But can we lock in sixteen?

00:29:05
Speaker 2: We got to twelve and we were already going, well, we got to get to fourteen or sixteen.

00:29:10
Speaker 10: Yeah. I think what I love about I think the move from four to twelve was terrific and smart. I think the move from twelve to sixteen brings additional teams in. Obviously the four additional teams, it creates those four additional narratives around the country, brings those fan bases in, brings in other geographies. Yet there's that delicate balance that I think it achieves and maintains of identifying a true national championship, but protecting the integrity and the importance of that of the regular season. And there's no sport where the regular season games are more important than they are in college football. Here we are in week seven and we have a game tomorrow night that for us will determine whether we can make the playoffs or whether we're on the outside looking in. That doesn't happen in other sports, and that's the beauty of college football. That's why there's so much passion around these games. And you mentioned games this weekend and that are so important. Teams that can't afford to lose again, teams that need a quality win. That's the beauty of college football. And we can't lose. That be a shame if we lost that.

00:30:10
Speaker 4: Do you have uniform approval?

00:30:13
Speaker 2: I have uniform input, input input.

00:30:17
Speaker 10: So you know, Marcus, who's probably one of the two or three most stylish men in America, he has a lot of input. We tend to defer to him. We have color combinations that we like, and then he works with our very talented team and with our partner under Armour to put the uniforms out there. But I get a sense that's a leading question, Are you thinking about a uniform that we haven't debuted yet?

00:30:39
Speaker 4: No, I'm just curious.

00:30:41
Speaker 2: Is there anything like a bold move that you would make for a one off?

00:30:47
Speaker 10: Well, you think about our Shamrock series. We've had some really creative uniforms.

00:30:50
Speaker 4: You think when we and I love the helmet with the Shamrock on.

00:30:53
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think that we see though the gold helmet as Sakra saying, Okay, I don't think we're gonna monkey around with the helmets anymore. That gold helmet is as good as it gets. I'm biased. I think it's the best helmet in college football. But you think about when we went to Yankee Stadium for the Shamrock series a few years back with the pinstripes, what we did last year when we went to Yankee Stadium for the Army game, what we're going to do next year at Lambeau, what we did a couple of weeks ago in the all green uniforms. I love when we use the white on white with the gold helmets when we're away. So we're gonna you know, we work with under armour. We want to change it up. The fans love it, But.

00:31:29
Speaker 2: You would do that the leperkun on the front, like you can't put the leprechaun on for you need the number, but you can't do a no.

00:31:37
Speaker 10: You will see that are we have the sports specific leprechauns. We debuted the football one that that you guys that we've been wearing a few weeks ago, and the fans love it. Coach Freeman loves it. We have the hockey Leprechaun. We're going to do that in more sports. You will see that football leprechaun start to move into certain positions on some of our football uniforms, but unlike the hockey sweater, it won't be on the front or the back.

00:32:00
Speaker 4: Can you give me an idea of how much merchandise you guys do? Well, I would tell you we did a lot yesterday. You know that's a great a two story got a bookstore.

00:32:12
Speaker 2: Full of merchants. It's like saxvixth Avenue. Yes, this has to be. You must do more merchandise than any other program in America.

00:32:18
Speaker 10: I think you know we're lucky. We have such a great, passionate, national, international fan base that Notre Dame logo. Whether you're in South Bend, Indiana or New York City or Beijing. People know what it is. It means something.

00:32:35
Speaker 2: And then to the.

00:32:36
Speaker 10: Credit of the university and to the credit of our partners, like under Armor, we come up with, you know, really interesting designs that appeal to people. And then as I say, you put it on Marcus Freeman, put him on television for three and a half hours on a Saturday afternoon or a Saturday night, and everybody wants what what Marcus wears. Now, the unfortunate thing is not everybody looks as good as as Marcus Douce.

00:32:58
Speaker 2: You guys do results my very Can you get the pope?

00:33:02
Speaker 10: He's a cell Cider, he's a South Sider, but he is a villainovgrad.

00:33:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, but they don't have football.

00:33:07
Speaker 10: They don't have football. We're we think the pope's a fan. We are are Provost John McGreevey and our president.

00:33:15
Speaker 2: Maybe you know, fighting iris and he's wearing the hockey a.

00:33:17
Speaker 10: Little blue and gold and green. It would be nice something to work on, for sure.

00:33:22
Speaker 2: Thanks for having us hosting us people here behind the scenes did a wonderful job. Could not have been more accommodating. And uh it is uh And I don't know if an honorary degree is like in play now, but I mean I'll throw it out there.

00:33:37
Speaker 10: We well, we we're thrilled here here. I love the show personally, know that. That's why I I'll take it up with our president father Bob.

00:33:44
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, fair enough.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: I mean I graduated from Dayton, so maybe Flyers great school. Yeah, maybe like.

00:33:49
Speaker 4: A graduate degree. You know so well, you can come back, get on an advanced degree, a.

00:33:53
Speaker 2: Doctorate, know, something like that. Thank you, Pete, you well notre dame athletic director. Last call for phone calls? What we learn?

00:34:02
Speaker 4: What's in store right after this?

00:34:04
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to listen live.

00:34:16
Speaker 2: We will have uh what disdanged sports history? Anything else that we need to come up with.

00:34:22
Speaker 8: I think we have a quick rhyme time. Oh the crowd wanted it to answer, They.

00:34:27
Speaker 2: Did want it. Yeah, it doesn't Okay, I want it. I want rhyme time.

00:34:35
Speaker 5: They're just gonna have to kind of deal with it.

00:34:36
Speaker 2: Yes, give me, come on, let's go all right now, explain ryme time to the audio.

00:34:41
Speaker 6: I'm gonna give you two words, and the answers to those two words. These clues rhyme with one another, like an example would be gnawing Irish gnawing.

00:34:51
Speaker 2: What's another word for gnawing on something?

00:34:53
Speaker 5: Or chewing or chewing right?

00:34:55
Speaker 7: Or fighting?

00:34:57
Speaker 5: Biting?

00:34:57
Speaker 6: Fightingning Irish would be biting.

00:35:00
Speaker 5: That's how that works.

00:35:02
Speaker 6: Okay, charms, quacky charms, quacky, lucky ducky, lucky ducky.

00:35:08
Speaker 7: Go oh, he said, quacky quacky charms.

00:35:11
Speaker 5: Quacky is lucky ducky, notre week.

00:35:15
Speaker 6: Day Irish soap, casual.

00:35:19
Speaker 3: Affair, spring flame, exactly what.

00:35:25
Speaker 6: We're going through this too quick? Big payday hair piece, big payday? Someone recently got a big payday hair piece. My hairpiece would be a would be a what's.

00:35:38
Speaker 2: Another note for hairpiece?

00:35:40
Speaker 5: Who's the coaching in the ada I'm giving you?

00:35:44
Speaker 6: Big payday hairpiece would be sig wig is what we're looking for?

00:35:49
Speaker 5: Why is big payday and hairpiece? Why not? Why is that?

00:35:52
Speaker 2: I mean, it's okay, you're getting booed here.

00:35:56
Speaker 6: Sureser truths, Sure truths, Max facts Axbax MOOKI the bed mooky, the bed bets wet, that's wet.

00:36:08
Speaker 5: Fight Mariners Fight Mariners.

00:36:13
Speaker 2: Settle Battle Seattle.

00:36:14
Speaker 6: Two more quick ones Accomplishers, Milwaukee Accomplishers, Milwaukee and Brewers.

00:36:21
Speaker 5: And the last one is.

00:36:22
Speaker 6: Toronto Potato Chips, Jays.

00:36:26
Speaker 2: Lais and this that's yeah.

00:36:30
Speaker 5: Hopefully that wasn't too paid for, just a little fun on the front.

00:36:34
Speaker 4: Thank you, Tom.

00:36:35
Speaker 2: Once again, my thanks to NBC and Peacock and to Notre Dame for helping us. The big German did a wonderful job. He is the director, He's the one that's set up everything. Yeah, he had a tough tough week.

00:36:48
Speaker 4: He uh had.

00:36:49
Speaker 2: To bury his father and then got on the road and then uh, you know, came in here set this up, and so uh we want to thank him. Ryan, our production manager, Yeah, yeah, thank You're.

00:37:01
Speaker 5: Going to get it no matter what.

00:37:04
Speaker 2: Shelby, who works for Notre Dame, was the liaison Aaron from Notre Dame. So wonderful people who helped set all of this up. Mario's birthday is today, Mario, who's the eyes and ears of the program.

00:37:19
Speaker 7: Birthday?

00:37:26
Speaker 4: Okay, yes, Paulie.

00:37:29
Speaker 8: Every we you and I have been in Notre Dame probably three times, and every time I leave here, I say to myself I sure wish I had.

00:37:34
Speaker 3: Studied in high school.

00:37:35
Speaker 8: I sure wish I had studied if I had to do over, I don't know what the man made a difference.

00:37:39
Speaker 4: I love Notre Dame, but I love not studying more.

00:37:43
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I think I would have studied.

00:37:44
Speaker 4: I had a lot of fun.

00:37:45
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:37:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, I went to Dayton, you know, I had a lot of fun.

00:37:49
Speaker 3: I went to Southern. I barely got out.

00:37:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I look Todd studied and uh.

00:37:56
Speaker 5: We does matter?

00:37:58
Speaker 2: Yeah? You were second in a classes six hundred and you're here with us.

00:38:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I'm proud to be that, are you?

00:38:06
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:38:06
Speaker 6: Not so much today, but I'm in general, I'm proud to be.

00:38:09
Speaker 2: How about am I gonna hear about this all the way home?

00:38:12
Speaker 5: Only?

00:38:13
Speaker 2: Can you promise that I promise I will not promise not to bring.

00:38:16
Speaker 5: It up anymore.

00:38:17
Speaker 6: I'm gonna be cheery and smiling, and I'm gonna get past it. Everyone makes mistakes.

00:38:21
Speaker 4: You know what, I'm going to exonerate you.

00:38:23
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna bless you all right forgetting today. Why didn't you go to touchdown Jesus and apologize, down on your knees and just apologize to the gold Lick family to Brady Quinn Notre Dame alone.

00:38:39
Speaker 8: There are a lot of apologies to be by the way over your right shoulder. There are a lot of private jets rolling in the town. I've counted twenty in the past hour. Oh yeah, a lot of big wigs.

00:38:47
Speaker 2: Heading into the game. Uh.

00:38:48
Speaker 7: That's still one of the coolest things that's ever happened. We were lucky enough to be on a private plane once here, and the captain came on and said, all right, uh, guys will be taken off. So we're just waiting for Regis Field in the league.

00:39:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, Regis jet was in front of ours, but I think it was his jet.

00:39:06
Speaker 7: We just it's just like on borrowed time, just waiting for Regis to take off.

00:39:11
Speaker 4: His day in sports history, Paul.

00:39:13
Speaker 3: I just got one.

00:39:14
Speaker 8: Nineteen sixty eight, Bob Beaman jumped twenty nine two and a half inches at the Olympic Games in Mexico for the world record.

00:39:20
Speaker 3: That's it.

00:39:21
Speaker 2: Uh, funal results of the pole question, Seaton.

00:39:24
Speaker 7: Yeah, right now, let's see how long will Kurt Signetti's contract last?

00:39:29
Speaker 5: Right now?

00:39:29
Speaker 7: I hate to say, but most people have under four year.

00:39:32
Speaker 2: Damn, that's wrong.

00:39:35
Speaker 4: That is wrong. He just signed the deal. They did.

00:39:39
Speaker 2: We always ste negative, We always do, I know know it. How about we how about we go around the room what we'd learned on the program? Todd you learn anything today?

00:39:49
Speaker 5: I did?

00:39:50
Speaker 6: If you're going to make a mistake with no Eagles Dad's name, at least.

00:39:53
Speaker 5: Don't call him Ian. Don't call him Ian. He doesn't like that because Noah looks a lot like Iron Seating.

00:40:00
Speaker 7: Glick has a new time slack.

00:40:01
Speaker 2: No, we're not bringing it up.

00:40:04
Speaker 7: We're not bringing and he works for a different company exchanged.

00:40:09
Speaker 5: It's golic and golic.

00:40:10
Speaker 4: God, what did I learn today?

00:40:13
Speaker 6: If you're former notorityday running back Jerome Betetson miss he hates USC even more than he hates the Michigan were.

00:40:18
Speaker 2: Over forty years, tire Rack's been helping everybody find the right tires for hell and what and where they drive, ship fast and free back by free road hazard Protection tire rack dot com the way tire buying should be. Thank you, South Ben. Have a great weekend.