Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 AUGUST 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TODD D. BURLAGE U sing great balance throughout the 2023-24 fall, winter and spring sports seasons, Notre Dame rebounded nicely from a disappointing 20th-place finish in the 2022-23 Directors' Cup standings and climbed nine spots to No. 11 in 2023-24. The Directors' Cup compiles results from all varsity sports and uses that score to rank overall athletic achieve- ment for each school in the country. The Irish used a national champion- ship from its men's lacrosse team and a national runner-up finish from its men's soccer team, along with terrific seasons in football, women's basket- ball, men's and women's track and field, men's golf, and fencing to finish third among the 15 ACC schools (Virginia and North Carolina were ranked fifth and seventh, respectively). While the Irish athletes rightfully grabbed most of the headlines dur- ing the school year, the departures of a couple of legendary Notre Dame head coaches, the passing of the torch from one athletic director to the next and the high-profile hiring of a football assis- tant coach also captured their share of attention in 2023-24. Veteran Notre Dame softball coach Deanna Gumpf retired from her post in May after 23 seasons and 882 wins, the most victories by any Irish head coach in school history. Then, in late June, Irish hockey head coach Jeff Jackson an- nounced he would be leaving his job after 20 years following the 2024-25 season. On the administrative side, after 16 successful years on the job, Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick, 70, stepped down in the spring and handed the office keys to Pete Bevacqua, 52, the former chairman of NBC Sports, who worked closely as Swarbrick's under- study for about eight months before the job officially changed hands. And finally, Notre Dame went all in to hire Mike Denbrock as its new of- fensive coordinator, with a reported contract of $9 million over four years, making the former LSU assistant one of the highest-paid coordinators in college football. A successful run for the Notre Dame athletes in competition, and an event- ful one for university coaches and ad- ministrators, made for an interesting athletics year. Here are 10 highlights from 2023-24. TOP OF THE CLASS Exceeding every expectation from when he arrived at Notre Dame as only the No. 24 offensive tackle and the No. 275 overall prospect in the 2021 recruit- ing class per On3, Irish junior Joe Alt realized his NFL dreams April 25, when he was selected No. 5 overall in the first round by the Los Angeles Chargers. During his three seasons as a starter at SMOOTH TRANSITION Notre Dame athletics produced a strong year on the field despite plenty of change off it 2023-24 LEARFIELD COLLEGE DIRECTORS' CUP STANDINGS Rk. School Points 1. Texas 1,377.00 2. Stanford 1,312.75 3. Tennessee 1,217.00 4. Florida 1,189.00 5. Virginia* 1,066.25 6. Texas A&M 1,059.25 7. North Carolina* 1,035.75 8. Michigan 1,030.00 9. Alabama 1,028.88 10. UCLA 1,017.50 11. Notre Dame* 1,008.50 12. Florida State* 998.88 17. Duke* 928.50 21. NC State* 853.50 31. Clemson* 675.75 44. Syracuse* 538.00 49. Louisville* 515.50 50. Virginia Tech* 499.25 56. Wake Forest* 421.00 67. Miami (Fla.)* 368.25 68. Boston College* 360.00 74. Georgia Tech* 316.50 80. Pittsburgh* 277.00 * ACC school Outgoing director of athletics Jack Swarbrick handed the reins to Pete Bevacqua in March, while Irish teams put together another successful season with an 11th-place finish in the Directors' Cup standings. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER