Reports explain Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick's absence from CFP expansion meeting

While college football’s power brokers meet to discuss the possibility of CFP expansion over the coming years, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s absence became a story. After head coach Brian Kelly announced his surprise departure to LSU, the athletics staff has worked franticly to retain defensive coordinator and head coaching candidate Marcus Freeman, along with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg confirmed that Jack Swarbrick’s CFP expansion meeting absence was linked to the Notre Dame coaching search. He also added some info on the favorite Wednesday morning.

“Swarbrick staying on campus to keep Freeman and OC Tommy Rees, plus director of football performance Matt Balis staying,” tweeted Rittenberg. “Plus Swarbrick gushing about the program’s stability Tuesday, suggests this might not be much of a search. Marcus Freeman has tremendous support for HC role.”

Freeman, along with Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, have been mentioned most in connection with the Notre Dame job.

More on Brian Kelly’s staff

Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has been viewed as a name to watch in Notre Dame’s surprise coaching search. But The Athletic’s Pete Sampson reported Tuesday that Kelly is hoping to bring the former Cincinnati defensive coordinator with him to LSU — with quite a payday in store.

Freeman played linebacker at Ohio State from 2004-08 and was chosen in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. After bouncing around NFL practice squads, he went back to Ohio State as a graduate assistant coach in 2010.

He worked his way up through the coaching rankings to become Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator from 2017-20. Freeman also had rumors about LSU this past offseason, but Kelly brought him to South Bend to replace Clark Lea.

Now, rumors are once again swirling that Freeman could end up in Baton Rouge. That could throw a major twist into Notre Dame’s search for Kelly’s replacement.

The Fighting Irish had the 11th-best scoring defense in the country this season, holding teams to 18.9 points per game. In fact, Notre Dame nearly went all of November without allowing a touchdown. Stanford scored in the second half of last week’s game to end that streak.

But Freeman isn’t the only Notre Dame assistant Kelly is hoping to bring to LSU. The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna reports Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is also on Kelly’s wish list.

Rees played for Kelly from 2010-14 and joined the coaching staff in 2017 as quarterbacks coach. He moved up to offensive coordinator in 2020 and stayed in the role this season.