Notre Dame beat Virginia pretty handily three weeks ago. The Irish have since lost four of their last five to drop to 11-14, and coach Micah Shrewsberry isn’t handling it well.
“So, you gave up on me already? I don’t want to see you back here. I don’t give a damn,” Shrewsberry told reporters after his team’s 75-60 home loss to Louisville on Sunday.
This was just a tiny sliver of what was a nearly three-minute rant, which was precipitated by an innocent question from a reporter asking what the biggest issue Shrewsberry thought was contributing to the recent rough stretch.
“I understand that a lot of people have quit on us, and well-deserved. If you hate me, absolutely, absolutely, man. Great. If you think I suck, if you think I can’t coach, I’m with you, man. Good, good for you, because you’re allowed to have opinions. If you think I should be fired, good for you. You’re allowed to have opinions, right?” Shrewsberry began his rant.
I’ll be clear: don’t have an opinion on Micah Shrewsberry one way or the other, but it might need to be said that he’s been a D1 head coach for four seasons – two at Penn State, two now at Notre Dame – and he’s had losing records in three of the four.
Shrewsberry was 14-17 and 23-14 in his two seasons at Penn State before getting the job at Notre Dame, which finished 13-20 last year in his Year 1, and is sitting at 11-14, with a 5-9 mark in ACC play, with six games left in the 2024-2025 regular season, his Year 2.
Maybe, to be fair, he does suck?
“A lot of people have given up on this team, they’ve given up on me. I don’t really give a damn,” Shrewsberry said. “I believe in myself, and I believe in these guys, OK? So, don’t give up on these guys. Don’t give up on these guys. Don’t give up on these kids. If you don’t want to show up because of me, don’t show up because of me. Because you think I suck. Cool. I’m OK with that.”
Game reset: Micah Shrewsberry is OK with you thinking he sucks.
“Don’t give up on these kids, because we gonna get this thing rolling,” Shrewsberry went on, before complaining about the lack of people in the building.
“I sat there and watched more Louisville fans in here than Notre Dame people. That’s embarrassing. That’s embarrassing for me, because I’m the head coach here,” Shrewsberry said.
The box score notes the attendance in the 9,149-seat Purcell Pavilion was 5,437.
The program is averaging 5,304 for its home games this season.
“Yes, I got us in this predicament,” Shrewsberry said. “But don’t come back when we’re winning, because we’re turning this around, man. You better believe that. Everybody that gave up on me, believe it. Write this date down and believe it, because we’re going to get this thing rolling. I don’t care if you gave up on me or not.”
There might be another ACC job opening up very soon.
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Chris Graham
