Don’t look for Notre Dame to give up its football independence anytime soon.
That was the underlying message of public comments by athletic director Jack Swarbrick Wednesday, his most definitive on the possibility since the Big Ten Conference welcomed USC and UCLA as future members six weeks earlier.
"I don’t know if we’re stronger, but it certainly has felt like a validation of our decision to be independent," Swarbrick said during a one-hour livestream interview released through the university web site. "I think all of this dynamic has just reinforced that a lot of decisions that have been made over the years have placed Notre Dame in a very good position.