ESPN College Football

Joe Schad, Jesse Palmer and Ed Cunningham discuss conference expansion and if Notre Dame should remain independent.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The Big East spring meetings wrapped up Wednesday with little fanfare. Here are some final notes from the meetings.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said he was committed to keeping his Olympic sports in the Big East, after Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds told CBSSports.com that Big 12 conference reps have had discussions with the Irish as far back as 2010. Interim commissioner Joe Bailey was asked if he had a response. I think this is the best quote of the week.

"They've been doing it since 2010? It hasn't worked," Bailey said.

Swarbrick also added he was confident that the details of a future four-team playoff would be worked out June 20 in Chicago. But just how Swarbrick and all 11 conference commissioners arrive at the ultimate answer will provide plenty of drama.

Bailey said search firms will be interviewed next week to help assist in finding the next commissioner of the league. The Big East is looking to fast-track the process to get somebody in place as quickly as possible. The three-to-four month timetable remains unchanged, though the sooner the better.

He added that the collective group did not really discuss what they are looking for in the next Big East commissioner.

"I'd say to you that there's always the definition of an effective leader -- on balance, that's what you're looking for," Bailey said. "Someone that can take the conference and continue to move it forward over an extended period of time. You're not looking for an individual that would be some sort of caretaker but somebody who would be able to grow with the conference itself. You're going to find an enormous number of capable people interested in a position like this."

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday that the school remains committed to the Big East for its Olympic sports, despite a recent report indicating that Texas AD DeLoss Dodds has reached out to gauge the program's interest in joining the Big 12.

Swarbrick dismissed the report, saying, "It's a mistake to treat this as some sort of pitch by DeLoss. We're two people who talk frequently and talk about where we think this business is headed and who's doing what. We've talked about playing each other more, scheduling each other in other sports. It's a conversation that's had all of those elements to it.

"No one should have an impression where there was a point in time where DeLoss was making a pitch to Notre Dame. It's been a more collaborative, collegial discussion about the 2 schools and how we can do more together."

So goes the start of another round of conference realignment chatter, the Big 12 and SEC starting their own bowl game and creating a bigger divide between the haves and have-nots in college football.

And, as this exercise goes, here come the questions about the status of Notre Dame's football independence.

Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick quickly shut those down to The New York Times' Pete Thamel, saying: "We don't think it has significant near-term consequences for Notre Dame."

And, at the moment, I think he's right.

Yes, there looks to be a dividing line in college football more and more now. And, yes, it's not exactly clear which side Notre Dame falls on. But assuming the game's four-team playoff future keeps the door ajar for schools that haven't won their conferences, it's not like Notre Dame's path to playing for a national title becomes much harder with the creation of the Champions Bowl. And, as SI.com's Stewart Mandel notes, there will only be fewer obstacles for Notre Dame -- still a huge brand name -- to sign its own deal with another marquee bowl.

The only thing I can say with any real comfort is that should the day come when Notre Dame does need to relinquish its football independence, the ACC probably won't be first on speed dial anymore. (Colleague Mark Schlabach suggests that ACC commish John Swofford should now call Swarbrick immediately.)

The Big East doesn't look better today than it did last week, and the Irish-to-Big 12 possibility will gain some steam. But it's hard to envision Friday's news forcing the school's brass to say that jumping aboard a conference based 1,000 miles away is in the best interest of its 21-sport athletic department. And as Swarbrick told Thamel, this wasn't exactly out of nowhere.

The landscape of college sports has and will continue to change. How Notre Dame fits in is part of the narrative, but the end is probably still several chapters away.

Former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has received close to $8.7 million to not coach his alma mater, and the number will only grow.

Weis was paid $2,054,744 of buyout money from Notre Dame from July 2010 to June 2011, according to the Chicago Tribune, which obtained the figures from Notre Dame's Form 990 it must submit to the IRS.

Fired after the 2009 season, Weis received an initial buyout payment of $6,638,403, bringing the total to $8,693,147. He is slated to receive additional payments through December 2015.

The original $6.6 million payout was to be followed by "much smaller payments," according to previous documents. Weis also received $469,727 from Play by Play sports — now known as Notre Dame Sports Properties — and an additional $1,095 of unspecified "other reportable compensation."

The first glimpse at what current head coach Brian Kelly makes shows that Kelly took in $2,424,301, though $1,762,334 of "other reportable compensation" indicates all or part of that payment is a "one-time payment to Coach Kelly," the Tribune reported. As reporter Brian Hamilton notes, that money might have helped with any buyout Kelly owed Cincinnati after leaving the Bearcats in December 2009.

Kelly's base compensation is $617,846. The form did not include payments from "external sources."

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick made $1,026,942.

Colleague Ivan Maisel's story on this week's postseason meetings in South Florida has a phrase so natural that it may as well be ingrained in the college football lexicon. Most other stories regarding BCS changes include some version of it as well.

"The 11 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick …"

That sound you hear is the sigh of relief from every Irish fan with an attachment to the program's history in the national landscape. The relevance of Notre Dame football, often called into question, might never be on display more than it will be this fall. In addition to playing regular rivals Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford and USC, the Irish will open their season against Navy more than 3,000 miles away in Dublin, Ireland; will face old rival Miami (Fla.) in Chicago; will host independent brethren BYU and will travel to Oklahoma to play the perennial Big 12 favorite. Notre Dame will also host Pitt, which might be playing its final season in the Big East.

For those counting, those are opponents from five of the six automatic-qualifying conferences, in addition to two of the nation's other three independents. The games will be played in three of this country's four time zones, in addition to the opener in Dublin, which is five hours ahead of local time in South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame has its own television deal with NBC. Most of the program's road opponents will likely push for a night start against the Irish, who are a draw everywhere they go. Hence, the phrase that will continue to be thrown around as details of this week's meetings emerge.

"The 11 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick …"

Swarbrick and head coach Brian Kelly spoke at a dinner Saturday at the Joyce Center, and, naturally, the subject of the BCS, and specifically Notre Dame's fit in it, came up.

"The goal and priority is to remain independent (in football)," Swarbrick said, according to Notre Dame's sports information department. "What the postseason becomes is the lynchpin. There's still one chapter to come as far as conference realignment and that will come after these BCS discussions. These are an important three-and-a-half days (of meetings) this next week in Florida. (The result) will have a significant impact on us one way or another."

Colleague Travis Haney pointed last week to the paradox Notre Dame faces in years like this one — managing a potentially damaging on-field slate while refining its brand. The goal every year, however reasonable or unreasonable, is to earn a berth in a BCS bowl, something the Irish need a top-eight finish to clinch while others must win their conferences. Of the many potential models for postseason change, one limiting a playoff pool to conference winners presents the biggest obstacle for Notre Dame.

Thus, weeks like these are important for Notre Dame, not ready to show its hand. Could that hand be forced, marginalizing the program as another Midwestern power in a conference full of them (Big Ten)? Could it move to another stable, expanding conference, clutching some of its broader appeal and easing its BCS path but surrendering the all-encompassing allure of Notre Dame Football (ACC)?

The answers, like most everything else when it comes to change in this sport, will reveal themselves slowly over the coming months. So long as that reassuring phrase keeps popping up in print and online, Notre Dame fans can breathe a little easier, their collective seat at the table momentarily secure.

"The 11 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick …"

If you're ACC commissioner John Swofford, you've carved out a pretty nice life for yourself lately. Less than two years ago, you landed a long-term television deal with ESPN. Less than a year ago, you secured the move of Big East bedrocks Pitt and Syracuse, making your conference the unquestioned leader in men's college basketball.

If these upcoming BCS meetings take a couple of unforeseen turns, who knows, just maybe you can provide a safe landing spot for Notre Dame, expanding your conference's footprint to the Midwest and, to an extent, across the nation in a way no other league would be able to match.

But that's another issue for another day. For now, as we said, life is good as the ACC commissioner.

As sad a commentary as it might be on the present state of college athletics, the only tangible issue for the ACC now is, frankly, a minor one: The conference has not been among the best when it comes to winning football games.

Its champion from a year ago, Clemson, was run off the field in the Orange Bowl by West Virginia, a school that valued winning the Big East so much that it is now playing in the Big 12. The runner-up, perennial conference contender Virginia Tech, managed to secure a second BCS-bowl bid for the conference, something that had never been done before. The Hokies did that despite losing the league's title game by 28 points, despite finishing four BCS spots behind Boise State (No. 7) and three spots behind Kansas State (No. 8).

Both schools went on to play in smaller bowls, and the Hokies got a trip to New Orleans, ultimately losing a winnable Sugar Bowl against Michigan. The Wolverines, by the way, did not even reach their conference championship game — they actually lost to the team that lost that game, Michigan State. But, as we said, when life is good in college football, there are benefits to be reaped.

One of those may be on display this week in South Florida, where postseason meetings will take place among the 11 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick. Here, the ACC can get greedy.

The future is secure, which is more than can be said for some other conferences. But the record in BCS bowl games is 2-12, a concern generally limited to fan bases whose teams are losing big game after big game. Virginia Tech, a model of consistency in this sport, can only be tasked with carrying the mantle for the conference so much.

If a playoff format involving only conference champions arises, though, this could be the breakthrough toward occasionally cracking the nation's elite. Despite strong annual recruiting efforts from Clemson and Florida State, the ACC has shown little sign it can put multiple teams in the national title hunt every year, which is what the home of the past six national-title winners — the SEC — has been able to do.

But have one team emerge every now and then, losing one or even zero games? That's far more likely, which makes cracking a four-team playoff decided by conference winners — and thereby entering the national title picture — all the easier.

Are six consecutive national titles on the horizon for the ACC? Not exactly. But with its future secure, and its base potentially growing, this could be one small step for a conference lacking only on the scoreboard.

Notre Dame extended Brian Kelly's contract two years Tuesday, keeping the head coach under contract through the 2016 season.

"While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years," Notre Dame vice president and athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. "Our football team's performance on the field, in the classroom, and in the community reflect Coach Kelly's commitment to building a program that will be able to sustain success in the long run, and to doing so in a manner consistent with Notre Dame's values and tradition."

The Irish have gone 8-5 in each of Kelly's first two seasons at Notre Dame. They finished this season with an 18-14 loss to Florida State on Dec. 29 in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Notre Dame announced contract extensions Jan. 2 for its six returning assistant coaches.

"I want to thank [school president] Father [John] Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick for their unwavering support of me the last two years," Kelly said in a statement. "My family and I are truly blessed to be at Notre Dame and we are excited about what the future holds for the Fighting Irish football team. I also want to thank Father John and Jack for the commitment they made to the football program last week by renewing the contracts of our assistant coaches. I think we have one of the finest coaching staffs in the country at Notre Dame, and the confidence our administration has shown in us is truly appreciated."

Assistants Tim Hinton (running backs) and Ed Warinner (offensive line/running game coordinator) left the program last week. Scott Booker was promoted from offensive intern to full-time assistant, though his duties have not yet been announced.

Notre Dame has yet to announce any new hires.

"The quality of the assistant coaches that Coach Kelly has brought to Notre Dame is evident both in their performance and the interest that other schools have shown in them since the end of the regular season" Swarbrick said in a statement. "Building on the foundation we have now created and maintaining continuity is critical to the future success of our football program, and that is why we have secured the continued service of our football staff."

Kelly's extension should momentarily quell whatever premature concerns there might be about his job security two years in and help form an image of stability moving forward. Of course, Kelly's predecessor, Charlie Weis, received a 10-year extension just seven games into his Notre Dame career and was let go after season five.

1. The bottom line on why the BCS is going to change is weariness. The guys in charge of it are tired of hearing about it. One of them, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, had me on his radio show in Chicago yesterday: “I’m not sure that the plus-one is inevitable. Change is inevitable,” Swarbrick said. “It may be a plus-one. I sense an exasperation. Why get all this grief?”

2. When Swarbrick asked me what I would change, I suggested blowing up the BCS rating and having a committee of commissioners and athletic directors select the BCS teams. Committees select the postseason in every playoff that the NCAA runs. Swarbrick agreed with the concept. The challenge, he said, is that “You’ve got be prepared for whatever the result is. If that committee thinks five SEC teams should be in an eight-team playoff, you’ve got to be OK with that. I am.”

3. Andre Woodson led Kentucky to consecutive bowls as a junior and senior in 2006-07. He tried the NFL, and then he came back to Lexington as a student assistant coach in January to finish what he started. Woodson will get his diploma Friday, and good for Kentucky for publicizing it. Woodson served as a role model as a three-year starter for the Wildcats. Four years later he is a role model again. Even better news -- he wants to stay in coaching.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Three straight games against ACC opponents, including two in the conference's territory, will give Notre Dame fans plenty of time to think about the potential ramifications of conference realignment.

For Brian Kelly, however, that's not reality. The Irish are independent, and he's happy that way.

"I think I have an opinion," Kelly said when asked if he has a voice at the administrative table when realignment talk arises. "[Jack Swarbrick's] always been great in communicating with me about what my thoughts are. And we look at everything. We look at, all right, recruiting, your offense -- is it unique within that particular conference? Your defense. All of those things go into the conversation.

"But I think it's been stated several times we're going to do everything we can to be independent. We believe that that's our future. We just have to see what the future of college football looks like. I think that's probably the bigger question."

Notre Dame travels to Wake Forest this weekend before playing a home game against Maryland in Landover, Md. The Irish host Boston College a week later.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick likes the direction the Big East is heading. Now, it's time for the 14-team conference to act on its plans to expand, something its presidents voted unanimously to authorize commissioner John Marinatto to pursue after a meeting Sunday at Georgetown.

"It's great to make plans," Swarbrick said Wednesday at Notre Dame's new Compton Family Ice Arena, where its hockey team announced it would join Hockey East. "It's whether the people you might be interested in or the circumstances will allow you to achieve those plans, but certainly the way the conference is thinking and what it's trying to achieve are consistent of what I think it needs to do."

The Big East lost Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC on Sept. 18, causing concern about the viability of the league in which 18 Notre Dame sports compete in, including its men's and women's basketball teams.

A weakened or nonexistent Big East would likely force Notre Dame to re-evaluate its status as a football independent, something it desires to maintain.

The Pac-12 announced it would not expand three days after Pitt's and Syracuse's moves to the ACC, seemingly quelling the realignment circus momentarily.

But Swarbrick, who in earlier interviews had said he was caught off-guard by Pitt's and Syracuse's moves, said Wednesday that he knows better than to think all is settled in the college sports landscape.

"You know I certainly have been taught enough times now not to claim there's any calmness emerging," Swarbick said. "Every time I declare it someone proves me wrong. So our assumption is it's not. Certainly the factors that have contributed to the larger conference realignment continue to exist and we're doing the same thing we've done throughout: monitoring it closely and hoping that the Big East stays a vibrant and successful partner for us."

Asked the odds of the Big East staying vibrant and successful, Swarbrick said: "I'm not placing any odds on anything these days."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As the game of musical chairs that is conference re-alignment takes place across the nation, Brian Kelly remains head coach at Notre Dame, a football independent. Having coached at a Big East school, Cincinnati, two years ago, Kelly has had a view from both sides of the landscape.

"Football independence at Notre Dame, I think it's schedule and recruiting," Kelly said during his Sunday teleconference of the advantages. "Those are the two things. You can put together a schedule that gets you from the East Coast to the West Coast, and in recruiting it allows you to have that large sampling. You're not marginalized geographically in your recruiting. On the other side, you're not playing for a conference championship. So, there's pluses and minuses. I like the pluses that we have as an independent right now, but like anything else, I think I've said this a number of times, we'll keep our ear to the ground."

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick was surprised by the departure of Syracuse and Pitt for the ACC, telling reporters Saturday that he never envisioned such a scenario.

The moves became official this morning, leaving the conference 18 of the Fighting Irish's other teams compete in smaller by two.

Still, Swarbrick insisted, football independence remains Notre Dame's intention, according to the Chicago Tribune:

"We will approach this, no matter what the change is, with that as our goal," Swarbrick said. "We'll see whether we can manage our circumstances to meet that goal."

Kelly said the constant shuffling doesn't affect his day-to-day operations as a football coach, though he does feel the timing of the circus takes away from what college football Saturdays are generally about — football games.

"Yeah I think so," he said. "I think anytime there's movement like this, it takes a little bit away from the games on Saturday. But I think for the average fan, they care very little bit about this. They're more interested in their teams, and they know the networks are more interested in showing these games. So I think it's just good talk for the media. But I think the people that are involved, week-to-week, their focus is on the game and their opponent."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame is scheduled for a school-record five night games this season, including a stop next week in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Fighting Irish will likely get good preparation for that whenever the second-half of its opener against South Florida resumes, as the team is currently waiting out what is believed to be the first weather delay, home or away, in its 123-plus year history.

Fans took cover in the hoops team's Joyce Center next door, along with other nearby campus buildings. The athletic department announced a little less than an hour after the first half ended that a more serious storm was headed here, bringing high winds with it.

Once the weather clears, officials will meet with the head coaches to collectively determine how much time each team will need to warm up before resuming play.

According to the NCAA, three full periods must be played for a game to be considered official.

In a television interview, Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick said each team met and would try to provide food for the players as they waited. The sides also went over ground rules for the break -- namely, that neither team can watch film.

Trailing South Florida 16-0 as it went into the break, Notre Dame will happily oblige.

The Navy-Notre Dame series -- which recently has become more competitive than the Irish would like -- is set to continue through 2026.

The two schools say they have the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in college football, and 2026 will mark the 100th year for the series.

“Notre Dame and Navy have long defined what an in intersectional football rivalry is all about,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. “Our two institutions have a longstanding relationship, both on and off the football field, that goes back decades. When we’ve looked at future football schedules for Notre Dame, Navy has always been one of the opponents immediately penciled in -- and this ensures that will be the case for yet another 10 years to come.”

The game will be played in South Bend every other year, while on even years the game will be played as Navy's home game but will move around to different venues. The two teams played at New Meadowlands Stadium last year, and they will meet in Dublin, Ireland, in 2012.

Navy blew out the Irish 35-17 last year for its third victory over Notre Dame in the past four seasons. Before that, the Midshipmen had suffered a 43-game losing streak to the Golden Domers, which was an NCAA record for futility in a series.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly summed it up perfectly Thursday on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show.

"It just makes sense," Kelly said.

A Northwestern-Notre Dame series makes a lot of sense for both schools, and the two teams announced Thursday they will play in 2014 and 2018. Both Kelly and Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald appeared on "Mike & Mike" to make the announcement.

This is obviously a bigger deal to Northwestern than it is to Notre Dame. The Wildcats will host Notre Dame in 2018, which will mark Notre Dame's first trip to Evanston since the 1976 season. Some are already wondering if this game will be moved to Soldier Field. Not happening. Northwestern wouldn't agree to the series if it didn't get a true home game. By then, Ryan Field will be renovated, and Northwestern is hopeful its recent success on the field, combined with its recent marketing push, means the crowd will be more purple than green.

The teams first will play on Nov. 15, 2014, at Notre Dame Stadium. It will mark their first meeting since the 1995 opener, when Fitzgerald led Northwestern to a historic upset that propelled the Wildcats to the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl appearance. The game marked the end of a four-year run of games between the schools, and Notre Dame had little incentive to play the Wildcats after the 1995 loss.

Things have changed for both programs in the past 16 years. Notre Dame now schedules the likes of Tulsa and Western Michigan. Northwestern, meanwhile, has become a consistent bowl participant. Although a Notre Dame loss to Northwestern wouldn't go over well among the Irish faithful, the shock value of the 1995 loss probably won't be there. Notre Dame also benefits from a trip to Chicago, given its fan base and its recruiting base in the area.

It's no secret how this series came about. Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips previously served as an associate athletic director at Notre Dame and knows Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick well.

"Northwestern and Notre Dame represent two of the finest academic institutions in the nation, and it's only fitting that we renew our rivalry on the football field," Phillips said in a prepared statement.

No arguments here.

The Notre Dame addition also continues to beef up Northwestern's nonconference schedules, which will feature Cal, Boston College and others in the coming years.

Notre Dame still will face three Big Ten teams in both 2014 and 2018. The Irish take a break with Michigan State in 2014-15 and take a break with Michigan in 2018-19. They will face Michigan, Northwestern and Purdue in 2014 and Michigan State, Purdue and Northwestern in 2018.