How Greg McElroy sees Notre Dame football independence in 2023, future
Former Alabama quarterback and current ESPN analyst Greg McElroy made his stance on whether or not Notre Dame should join a conference in college football very clear this week. His take was not like that of many conference traditionalists who think it’s nonsensical Notre Dame has yet to join the Big Ten or SEC.
McElroy still sees value in the Fighting Irish remaining independent.
“I don’t feel, at this point, Notre Dame is in a really big hurry to move,” McElroy said Monday on ‘Always College Football.’ “Why would they do it? There’s no point.
“They’re leaving what is a really, really good situation for another really, really good situation. You go in the Big Ten? You sign your AAU for sure, you collectively pool all your money and opportunities together. That’s great. But you lose the independence and fluidity with which you’ve operated with for, historically, as long as I can remember.”
Notre Dame was just picked to be a part of the AAU (Association of American Universities) at the beginning of the month anyway. It’s been a long time coming in the eyes of many considering the AAU is a consortium of the nation’s leading public and private research universities. Notre Dame has always been one of the finest academic institutions in the country, but it has also intentionally tended to put more of an emphasis on undergraduate studies and less of one on extensive research programs.
That has changed a bit of late.
“While Notre Dame has long been known for its undergraduate education, we have striven to be a preeminent research institution with superb graduate education, all informed by our Catholic mission,” university president Rev. John I. Jenkins said in a statement. “We are honored to be invited to join the AAU and heartened by the AAU Board’s recognition of our progress as a research university, and we look forward to participating in this august organization.”
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Both academically and in the realm of college football, Notre Dame is doing just fine without being a member of the Big Ten, which prides itself on being industry leaders in both of the aforementioned areas. The Irish are clearly a good fit — logistically, regionally and otherwise — to be in the Big Ten.
McElroy just doesn’t see it happening. Not anytime soon, anyway.
He said he thinks Notre Dame football will be in a conference 10 years from now. But while the waters swirl in the current chaotic climate of college football, South Bend may as well be under a protective bubble.
“I don’t get the sense that they are positioning themselves right now to align with a league,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if, two or three years from now, that becomes a realistic possibility. We will always keep tabs on Notre Dame and the possibility of them aligning with a conference. But, at this point, I have a difficult time thinking that an AD stepping down, a new AD stepping in, or getting your AAU is any indicator of what might happen in the future.”
