Notre Dame has gone through three phases this basketball season.With the football program in a state of flux, Notre Dame decided to stay home during bowl season.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced Friday that the Irish would not accept a bowl invitation, despite the team being eligible with a 6-6 record. Notre Dame lost it last four games.
"After meetings again (Friday) involving our coaching staff as well as the leadership group representing our football team, we have made the decision to remove ourselves from consideration for any postseason bowl game this year," Swarbrick said in a statement.
"Notre Dame institutionally always has been a strong advocate of the bowl system, and we sincerely appreciate the bowls and individuals representing them who reached out to us.
However, the unique circumstances surrounding our program at the current time prevent us from making the commitment required to compete in a bowl game."
Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis on Monday, and interim coach Rob Ianello, who coaches receivers and coordinates the program’s recruiting, is overseeing the program.
On Monday, Ianello said the program would continue to recruit while the university searches for a new coach. Seven assistant coaches were recruiting this week.
Swarbrick said the players’ input would be taken into consideration in regard to a bowl, but he also said the final decision would come down to what was best for the program.
"If the landscape had been different, we would have been thrilled to take part – and we certainly look forward to being part of the bowl system in the years to come," Swarbrick said.
Notre Dame’s bowl options would likely have been the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, GMAC Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl or EagleBank Bowl.
"My feelings are mixed," said Tom Skiba, treasurer of the Notre Dame Club of Fort Wayne. "I did not think they would accept a bid with the disappointing performance of the team. There are certainly advantages of playing in a bowl game because your team can practice more and it’s a nice event. But given the coaching change I’m simply not surprised they chose not to go, particularly with a 6-6 record."
The last time Notre Dame didn’t accept a bowl bid when eligible was after the 1996 season. The Irish went 8-3 in Lou Holtz’s final season.
Notre Dame did go to a bowl after Tyrone Willingham was fired after the 2004 season. The Irish lost to Oregon State 38-21 in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28, 2004.
Notre Dame ended a nine-game bowl losing streak last season with a 49-21 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24, 2008.
Notre Dame also held its team banquet Friday. Weis addressed the team at the banquet, which was closed to the public.
On Monday, Golden Tate, who was selected team MVP along with Jimmy Clausen, said his family would meet with Weis on Friday to discuss the receiver’s NFL draft prospects. Tate said he also thought Clausen would have a similar meeting with Weis.
