Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry delivered a memorable press conference rant on Sunday after his team’s home loss to Louisville.
Shrewsberry was apparently irked by a lack of support from the home fans during the 75-60 defeat at the hands of the Cardinals. The second-year Notre Dame coach was angry that the home fans were outnumbered by Louisville supporters and suggested that those who weren’t showing up to support the team now would not be welcomed back when things get turned around.
Shrewsberry even punctuated his point by angrily knocking over the microphone.
“I sat there and watched more Louisville fans in here than Notre Dame people. And that’s embarrassing,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s embarrassing for me because I’m the head coach here. Yes, I got us in this predicament. 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. Don’t care if you gave up on it or not.”
This is a pretty risky tactic from Shrewsberry. He is coming dangerously close to criticizing his own school’s fans for a lack of support, which never goes over well.
Sunday’s loss dropped the Fighting Irish to 11-14 on the season and 5-9 in ACC play. With that coming on the back of a 13-20 campaign last year, some fans might be starting to lose patience in Shrewsberry, and the feeling seems to be mutual.
The issues are particularly stark when contrasted with Louisville. After going 8-24 last season, new head coach Pat Kelsey has them at 20-6 and tied for second in the ACC following Sunday’s victory. Shrewsberry does not look like he is close to delivering anything close to that sort of turnaround.
This is not even the first time Shrewsberry has publicly taken someone to task since taking over at Notre Dame. Ultimately, the fiery statements do not seem to be making much of a difference.
