Notre Dame radio color analyst Allen Pinkett has been “bumped” from Saturday’s season-opening Navy-Notre Dame game in Ireland after comments he made on a Wednesday radio show, according to Bob Wieneke of the SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE. Pinkett on Wednesday said, "I've always felt like to have a successful team you've got to have a few bad citizens on the team." Wieneke notes Pinkett “later apologized” for the remark. Jeff Jeffers will replace Pinkett in the radio booth and will work with play-by-play announcer Don Criqui. Wieneke notes Pinkett made the trip to Ireland “on the team charter Wednesday afternoon” (SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE, 8/31). USA TODAY’s Nicole Auerbach notes the reaction to Pinkett's comments “was overwhelmingly negative.” Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick said he "could not disagree more" with Pinkett's assertion. Football coach Brian Kelly told reporters in Ireland he could not "wrap (his) brain around it" (USATODAY.com, 8/30). Swarbrick on Thursday emphasized that Pinkett “is not an employee of the school.” Swarbrick: "We want the people who comment on our games, whether it's on NBC or, in the case of radio, IMG College, to be independent voices, so they are hired by those media partners. We don't have any say in their employment.” He added, "It's important for me to make Notre Dame's position known and express our unhappiness with what was said, but we don't have any role to play in deciding what, if any, sanctions will be imposed" (ESPN.com, 8/30). The Chicago Tribune’s Dave Van Dyck said he would “have certainly suspended” Pinkett and “then see what kind of mea culpa he wants to do.” Van Dyck: “I don’t know if you fire him or not, but you certainly got to give him a chance to try to get out of it” (“Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8/30).
