Marcus Freeman’s Turmoil Grows As AD Pete Bevacqua’s Miami Statement Hits Notre Dame Hard

Notre Dame’s playoff dreams died Sunday, but the real damage started piling up. Athletic director Pete Bevacqua hit The Dan Patrick Show and basically declared war on the ACC, the conference that’s been Notre Dame’s safety net for two dozen sports. Marcus Freeman’s already dealing with a roster exodus and a recruiting class in shambles. Now his boss just made everything exponentially worse by airing dirty laundry.

Bevacqua didn’t hold back when Patrick asked about the ACC’s role in Notre Dame’s playoff exclusion. The conference publicly lobbied for Miami over the Irish during committee deliberations, and Bevacqua said that crossed a line. “They have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame,” he told Patrick.

When asked if Notre Dame would