Pete is not Jack + Picking Your Battles

by NDJuban, Friday, May 15, 2026, 08:11 (11 days ago) @ BPH

A couple of things here.

Pete is not Jack. That is a good thing. As someone who works in sports and worked within college sports for a minute, I think Pete is the proper architype for ND at this moment. Jack was great navigating the battleship at 30,000 feet in an older era of collegiate athletics where hanging on to principles/elements of amateurism allowed ND overly distinct and unique in how they approach all situations.

Those days are gone and college athletics have been professionalized. With that, schools make decisions based on the control they have granted to broadcast partners via rights deals (see the ongoing saga in the ACC with Clemson/FSU). I feel much more comfortable having someone like Pete (and even Petiti) in the saddle, who has navigated those commercial waters in prior roles, than someone like Jack. Sample size of one. But just some additional context.

Also, you need to pick your battles. The sitting in a circle and singing Kumbaya that has happened with Phillips and Pete at the ACC meetings signals something else to me. Pete recognizes that ND was the story for a while last year. They can't continue to be the story. They need to fall in line, at least publically, on certain issues so when they need to cause a shit storm again, it actually gets a fair shot at a fair take from the public. If they continue to go against the grain, it helps no one in the long run as they just look like a challenging part-time member, to the ACC or someone like the B1G or SEC who could be a future home.