Outgoing ACC Commissioner John Swofford was criticized Sunday following the leak of a memo from the conference naming Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly as a candidate for the ACC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
Fans from across the conference slammed the memo as an embarrassment to all the actual Women’s basketball coaches in the ACC, while Swofford claimed it was just a joke in poor taste.
TJ Bayer, a lifelong NC State fan, told reporters that it was just another attempt to convince Notre Dame to become a full-time member of the ACC.
“For Pete’s sake, they already gave Kelly Coach of the Year in football, and he didn’t even deserve it,” Bayer stated. “Now, they’re considering actually naming him Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, too?”
“The thirst is beyond the pale. I’m not here for that.”
Swofford, in response, said that the memo was just a bad joke.
“Look, it doesn’t hurt to have a sense of humor,” Swofford explained. “We’ve been fussed at about our preferential treatment of Notre Dame all year, so this memo was just playing on that.”
“And they say I only give preferential treatment to UNC? That’s dadgum ridiculous.”
One person who works in the ACC office, who begged to remain nameless, contested Swofford’s assertion that the memo was a joke.
“No way in Hell was it just a joke,” the employee said. “The ACC has gone all-in on getting the Irish to join the conference full-time.”
“At one point there was a plan to pay Kelly to appear on the Notre Dame Women’s basketball team’s bench during the Boston College game in January, just because they thought that would be enough to award him Coach of the Year again.”
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