No Shamrock Series Game for Notre Dame in 2017
When Notre Dame travels to San Antonio, Texas in November to take on Army, it will mark the eighth straight season in which the Irish have traveled to another city to “host” a home game in the Shamrock Series. According to ESPN, Jack Swarbrick stated the Irish won’t make it nine years in a row in 2017 but are planning on adding the series back in future years.
“In all likelihood we will not do one in ’17, because that’s the opening of the Crossroads and we want to maximize the number of home games, but we anticipate doing it in subsequent years,” Swarbrick said. “It’s been phenomenal. We have a lot of people who annually target that game and make it one where they get together with former classmates and really plan their years around it. It’s been good.”
While Swarbrick used the official launch of the Campus Crossroads project and maximizing exposure to it as the reason for skipping the off-site game, one has to wonder if the quality of the opponent Notre Dame has been attracting lately for the Shamrock Series and Notre Dame’s need to build a strong playoff resume.
Since inception in 2009, Notre Dame has not been able to attract many marque opponents outside of Miami in 2012 and Arizona State in 2013.
Notre Dame Shamrock Series Games
- 2009: vs. Washington State – Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas
- 2010: vs. Army – Yankee Stadium – New York
- 2011: vs Maryland – Fedex Field – Washington, DC
- 2012: vs. Miami – Soldier Field – Chicago, Illinois
- 2013: vs. Arizona State – Cowboys Stadium – Dallas, Texas
- 2014: vs. Purdue – Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, Indiana
- 2015: vs Boston College – Fenway Park – Boston, Massachusetts
- 2016: vs. Army – Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas
Notre Dame has played in some great venues along the way – especially Fenway Park last year – but the games themselves have not been able to drum up much interest. Given Notre Dame’s need to impress the playoff committee with their resume of 12 games versus other schools’ 13 (with conference championship games included), one has to wonder if this played into Notre Dame’s thinking here as they currently have one open date left on the 2017 schedule.
It will be interesting to see if the series does return in 2017 as it has given Notre Dame more exposure in Texas where they had not played in years before traveling to the Lone Star State in 2009 and 2013. Outside of Texas though, the areas Notre Dame has traveled to have not been areas they have traditionally struggled to recruit.
One very important element Swarbrick did not address – or wasn’t asked – was whether or not the Irish will still done an alternative uniform in 2017 for a home game. Fans and recruits have routinely raved about some of the Shamrock Series uniforms over the last few years and as a recruiting tool, the “trendy” uniforms have been a hit.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
This article implies that ND prefers to schedule top caliber opponents for the this game, but unfortunately that simply was not possible for whatever reason. However I disagree, as scheduling a rubbish opponent was the whole point! Just like homecoming or senior day.
Too bad. Although the games and opponents weren’t necessarily top notch, it was an interesting aspect of football at ND. The uniforms were off the charts and certainly, believe it or not, a recruiting tool. I’m sure they will employ that part of the game in another game during the season. Now all they have to do is win ball games! Go Irish!