The Notre Dame football team won't be hiring Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig for financial reasons, and the Fighting Irish fans aren't too happy about it.
After losing offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to Alabama, Notre Dame interviewed Andy Ludwig for the position. The Utah coach told the Fighting Irish that he would be staying put, and sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel that Ludwig's buyout stood in the way of Notre Dame making the hire.
The cost of Ludwig's buyout with Utah is $2.8 million, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Amid the news, Notre Dame football fans are roasting athletic director Jack Swarbrick for not paying what it took to land the Utes' offensive coordinator.
I can’t wait for Freeman to go to a real school that cares. Dude deserves all the resources and backing. Embarrassing day for @NDFootball. Hope everybody has a good night except Father Jenkins, Jack Swarbrick, and the rest of the admin. They don’t deserve it.
— Dougie Sant (@DougieSant) February 14, 2023
Not getting Andy Ludwig is a big whiff by Notre Dame.
I understand now that the buyout was expensive, but this is Notre Dame, and you have to give your second year, defensive minded Head Coach a big time Offensive Coordinator.
Extremely frustrating.
— Notre Dame Recruiting (@NDrecruiting01) February 14, 2023
Average ticket to a ND home game in 2022 was $389:
Andy Ludwig’s contract buyout was $2.8 million dollars:
Notre Dame makes an average of $30.2 million in ticket revenue alone per game…
Absurd
— Notre Dame Prime (@NotreDame_Prime) February 14, 2023
I give Marcus Freeman one, maybe two more seasons at Notre Dame before he dips out. I feel bad for him having to deal with Jack Swarbrick and the ancient athletic department who still thinks it's 1980.
— Irish Jedi (@Goirishglory88) February 14, 2023
Some Notre Dame fans lamented the fact that head coach Marcus Freeman isn't getting enough support from the school. One account noted that it was absurd for Notre Dame to let less than $3 million stand in the way of making the best hire at offensive coordinator, considering how much money the football program rakes in on ticket sales alone. Notre Dame is believed to be making around $25 million per year through its media rights deal with NBC.
Notre Dame reportedly paid Rees around $2 million per year. Ludwig is thought to be the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the Pac-12.
Utah ranked 17th in total offense and 11th in points per game in all of college football last season.
In the first season after long-time Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly left for LSU, Freeman led Notre Dame to a 9-4 record. Notre Dame scored 31.8 points per game, good for 42nd in the nation.
Rees spent three seasons as Notre Dame's offensive coordinator.
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