Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM AUGUST 2024 43 Notre Dame, Alt appeared in 38 games, earned All-America honors twice and Freshman All-America honors once to eventually become the highest drafted Irish player since quarterback Rick Mirer went No. 2 overall in 1993. Alt — a North Oaks, Minn., native — inked a four-year, $33.2-million deal with the Chargers, which included a $20.9 million signing bonus, and a fifth- year option that allows for the Chargers to keep Alt through at least the 2028 season. GOODBYE TO THE GOAT Calling her 23 years as the Notre Dame head softball coach "an incredible jour- ney," veteran Irish skipper Deanna Gumpf announced her retirement May 23. She left her post as the all-time winningest head coach in Notre Dame athletics his- tory after amassing 882 wins. The Irish softball program became one of the best and most consistent in the country during Gumpf 's tenure. Notre Dame managed 21 consecutive NCAA Tourna- ment appearances and at least 30 wins 21 times after she took over the program in 2002. Gumpf's impressive résumé also in- cludes the development of 15 different players who earned All-America hon- ors, eight conference players of the year (Big East and ACC), four conference pitchers of the year and four finalists for the USA Softball National Player of the Year. BACK HOME, AGAIN In a coaching hire that many college football experts celebrated as the best offseason staffing move in the coun- try, Notre Dame landed Mike Den- brock as its new offensive coordinator last December. This will be Denbrock's third stint with the Fighting Irish after he coached here in different roles from 2002-04 and 2010-16. That said, neither of those first two stops here provided the expec- tations that his third go-around will. Coaching at LSU last season, Den- brock guided an offense that led the nation in total offense (543.5 yards per game) and scoring (45.5 points per game), helping his senior quarterback, Jayden Daniels, to the 2023 Heisman Trophy as the nation's best player. Denbrock became familiar with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman after the two worked together as coordinators at Cincinnati from 2017-20. END OF AN ERA After 16 successful years serving as the Notre Dame director of athletics, Jack Swarbrick retired this spring. The long list of accomplishments for Swarbrick included some key coaching hires, multiple national championships with his Olympic sports programs, a place in the 2012 BCS National Cham- pionship Game, and College Football Playoff appearances in 2018 and 2020 Notre Dame's Top Male Athletes Of 2023-24 1. Pat Kavanagh (lacrosse) — The Notre Dame graduate student attacker claimed the Tewaaraton Award for the first time after becoming a finalist for the top honor in college lacrosse three times. The Rockville Centre, N.Y., native secured the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse after leading the Irish to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024. Kavanagh finished his final season at Notre Dame with 80 points (31 goals, 49 assists), with 20 of those points coming in four NCAA Tournament games. 2. Bryan Dowd (soccer) — The senior goalie enjoyed the best season of his career in helping lead Notre Dame to a runner-up finish in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Chicagoland native totaled 11 clean sheets for the 13-win Irish while allowing just 0.699 goals per game with an .824 save percentage. Dowd collected plenty of prestigious postseason hardware, including Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Year — a rarity for a goalie — first-team All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches and ACC Goalkeeper of the Year. 3. Liam Entenmann (lacrosse) — The graduate student from Point Lookout, N.Y., made a strong case this season as the best Notre Dame goalie of all time after helping lead the Irish to a second straight national title. Entenmann went 16-1 in the cage this season, and for his efforts, he was named the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award winner as the nation's top goalie, the 2024 ACC Goalie of the Year, and the 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. 4. Chris Guiliano (swimming) — The junior freestyle ace recently capped his fine season by securing a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team after finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials. The honor makes the Douglassville, Pa., native — and the 2023-24 ACC Men's Swimmer of the Year — the first Notre Dame male swimmer to make Team USA, just weeks after he earned first-team All-America individual honors and led Notre Dame to its first-ever top-10 team finish at the NCAA Championships. 5. Ryan Bischel (hockey) — The three-year starter capped his stellar career by being named a finalist for the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year after allowing just 2.59 goals per game and recording a .924 save percentage. For the second straight season, the Medina, Minn., native led the nation in saves and be- came a Hobey Baker Award nominee as the nation's best player, and a Mike Richter Award semifinalist as the nation's most outstanding goalkeeper. Bischel recently signed a one-year contract with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. — Todd D. Burlage Irish soccer goalie Bryan Dowd was tabbed as Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Year. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS