Why Brady Quinn ‘absolutely hates’ Tennessee State vs. Notre Dame football matchup
Former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn didn’t hold back.
There’s been plenty of buzz — good and bad — about the Fighting Irish snapping a notable streak that has existed since the program played its first game in 1899. Notre Dame is scheduled to face an FCS opponent for the first time when it welcomes Historically Black College/University (HBCU) Tennessee State to South Bend for the Irish’s home opener on Sept. 2, 2023.
The programs’ head coaches, Eddie George of Tennessee State and Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame, held a press conference Wednesday to officially announce the game. They discussed the importance of breaking barriers and giving HBCUs a platform on a stage as grand as Notre Dame Stadium.
Speaking on FOX Sports Radio podcast “2 Pros and a Cup of Joe” Wednesday, Quinn wasn’t having any of that. He said college football scheduling “is not about equity.”
“I absolutely hate this,” Quinn said. “Look, there are probably some woke idiots out there like, ‘Oh, but it’s an HBCU!’ It has nothing to do with that. This is the first time in the history of the Notre Dame football program they’ve played a non-FBS opponent. That’s what I’m ticked off about. I hate this.”
Quinn views the move as “watering down the schedule” and “one less thing to tout” in terms of not being able to say Notre Dame is one of less than a handful of programs that have never played an FCS opponent. As it stands, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC make up that short list. UCLA is scheduled to play one this fall.
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Quinn pushed back on those citing the cream of the crop in the SEC play against FCS foes on an annual basis, too.
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“When we’re independent, where you don’t have that 13th data point of a conference championship game, you need as tough of a strength of schedule as you can get,” he said. “I don’t think scheduling a non-FBS opponent as your (home) season opener and coupling it and saying, ‘We’re just doing what the SEC does’ works. They’ll schedule a big dog, one-tough non-conference opponent, and then they’ve got layups. They’ve also got a conference championship game. Alabama can do that. Georgia can do that. They can get away with it. LSU can do that.”
Quinn said the game is a “no win” situation for Notre Dame because if the Irish “don’t win by 50” they’ll drop in the polls and lose luster in the eyes of the college football landscape. He said this is the type of game that “does nothing to elevate the program.”
Quinn also wondered what will happen with Notre Dame’s TV rights deal if the Irish continue to play against opponents like Tennessee State. Will NBC re-up? Will another big network be willing to put out a big bid? Worth noting, Notre Dame is scheduled to play perennial powers Ohio State and USC in South Bend in 2023. NBC can’t be mad about that. Notre Dame also gets Clemson on the road after playing the Tigers at home this November.
Still, Quinn is majorly upset at the move.
“It’s just a dramatic departure from what it used to be and it crushes me to see it,” Quinn said. “Notre Dame in this instance, when it’s always kind of been something of its own, is now really trying to almost blend in with everyone else. And that hasn’t been their MO.”
