Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 25, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Kati Druzina — Soccer The junior from Kirtland, Ohio, recorded two assists in Notre Dame's 2-1 win over Brown Sept. 12. The Irish im- proved to 6-1-1 with the vic- tory, marking the best start of head coach Nate Nor- man's tenure in South Bend. Druzina led the team with four assists through eight matches. She played in nine games with four starts as a sophomore in 2020, after she missed the entire 2019 season due to injury. Palmer Jackson — Golf The junior from Mur- rysville, Pa., helped Notre Dame claim a share of the Gopher Invitational champi- onship Sept. 12-13 by tying for fourth in the individual competition. He fired rounds of 70, 69 and 68 for a 6-un- der-par score. A week earlier, Jackson opened the fall sea- son by tying for fourth with an 11-under 205 at the Marquette Invitational at Erin Hills Golf Course in Hartford, Wis. Charley Niego — Volleyball Notre Dame put forth a valiant effort on the road at No. 1 Texas Sept. 12, los- ing in four sets and pushing the fourth set to a 29-27 decision. The senior from Chicago recorded her 41st career double-double in the hard-fought loss, racking up 17 kills and 12 digs. Niego notched a team-leading 105 kills in the first eight matches this fall. She also had 89 digs, which ranked second on the team. Matthew Roou — Soccer The freshman from Germantown, Wis., scored his team-leading third goal in Notre Dame's 4-3 loss to Michigan State Sept. 14. Roou arrived at Notre Dame as TopDRawereSoccer. com's No. 38-ranked player in the country. It's been a rough go for the Irish while they've stumbled to a 1-3-1 start this season, but Roou has pro- vided a silver lining in his first year. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Stability at the top generally translates to success in college athletics. Notre Dame serves as a shining example of that. Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick, football coach Brian Kelly and men's basketball coach Mike Brey have been together at the same school for longer than any combination of three coaches and administrators who hold the same positions at their respective Power Five programs. Kelly was the last of the three to arrive when he became Notre Dame's football coach on Dec. 10, 2009. Swarbrick assumed his role on July 15, 2008. Brey has been with the Fighting Irish since July 14, 2000. Brey and Kelly have both had success since they started working together. The former led the Irish to their first Elite Eight since 1979 in 2015. He brought the Irish back to the Elite Eight the very next season, too. Kelly brought the Irish to the national championship game in his third season in 2012. He has also led Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff in two of the last three seasons. Stability has certainly equaled success for Swarbrick, Brey and Kelly. These are the five combinations of Power Five athletics directors, football coaches and men's basketball coaches who have worked with each other the longest. Rk. School Since Athletic Director, Football, Basketball Coaches 1. Notre Dame Dec. 10, 2009 (Jack Swarbrick, Brian Kelly, Mike Brey) 2. Iowa March 28, 2010 (Gary Barta, Kirk Ferentz, Fran McCaffery) 3. Clemson Dec. 1, 2012 (Dan Radakovich, Dabo Swinney, Brad Brownell) 4. Kentucky Dec. 2, 2012 (Mitch Barnhart, Mark Stoops, John Calipari) 5. Stanford March 25, 2016 (Bernard Muir, David Shaw, Jerod Haase) — Tyler Horka CHARTING THE IRISH HIGHEST-PAID POWER FIVE ATHLETICS DIRECTORS Only a handful of Power Five athletics directors have spent more time at their respective institu- tions than Notre Dame's Jack Swarbrick, who has been the AD for the Fighting Irish since July 2008. Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione (April 1998), Ken- tucky's Mitch Barnhart (June 2002), Ohio State's Gene Smith (March 2005), Iowa State's Jamie Pollard (October 2005) and Iowa's Gary Barta (August 2006) are the only others who have had longer tenures at their current schools. Naturally, a long tenure lends itself to a higher salary. For Swarbrick, that has certainly been the case. His annual salary is higher than that of three of the aforementioned athletics directors. Only Castiglione and Smith make more money per year. According to AthleticDirectorU.com, Swarbrick is the eighth-highest-paid Power Five athletics director in the country. Here's a look at the entire top 10: Rk. Athletics Director, School Salary 1. Chris Del Conte, Texas $2,370,000 2. Ray Anderson, Arizona State $2,050,000 3. Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma $2,033,333 4. Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech $1,895,000 5. Gene Smith, Ohio State $1,845,609 6. Danny White, Tennessee $1,800,000 7. Greg Byrne, Alabama $1,665,000 8. Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame $1,649,973 9. Sandy Barbour, Penn State $1,509,000 10. Warde Manuel, Michigan $1,450,000 Notre Dame's Jack Swarbrick cur- rently has the sixth-longest active tenure among Power Five athletics directors. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS — Tyler Horka