Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Ryan Sachire was a three-time All-American sin- gles player at Notre Dame before graduating in 2000. He returned to the program as an assistant coach in 2006, and served in that role before be- coming head coach in July 2013. His title is now the Callaghan Family Head Men's Tennis Coach after a $3 million endowment from John and Kim Callaghan was announced this May. BGI: Did you always dream you'd coach at Notre Dame, or did it just work out that way? Sachire: "Both of my parents were high school teachers, and my dad was a coach. Sports, education and the concept of being a coach have always been a massive part of my life. Once I went through my playing career in college, I knew being a college coach was what I wanted to do. "You can never count on being the head coach at a place like Notre Dame, but it was definitely a goal and something I always aspired to." BGI: Does your experience as a student-athlete at Notre Dame help you as a coach? Sachire: "First, I understand the demands from an academic and social perspective. I know what it's like to live the life of a tennis student-athlete here at Notre Dame. "Being able to know what our guys are going through from a first-hand perspective has been extremely helpful, and they know I can relate." BGI: How does the endowment from the Cal- laghans help the program? Sachire: "It's huge. First, I think it's a reflection on the Callaghan family. Great people. Patrick played here and graduated in 2010, just an amaz- ing kid and family. "It adds stability. You look around the country and some men's tennis pro- grams are facing budget cuts. What this does is it gives great stability to our program moving forward. It shows Notre Dame's strong commitment to tennis and developing a championship team here." BGI: How important has se- nior Quentin Monaghan — who was a 2015 All-American — been during your tenure here? Sachire: "He's a superstar. He's meant so much to our cul- ture. He probably comes in for three to four individual sessions a week and then is the hardest worker at our team practices. "What that effect has been on our program is our other guys have seen the success he's had, and they associate that with his work ethic, and that filters down to the other guys." BGI: Who wins in a match between Monaghan and you in your college days? Sachire: (Laughs) "He's still on our team, so I'll say that he would beat me. Really though, at that level it's a day-to-day thing. "It's such a fine line between when you're play- ing your best and when you're not, and if you're not you can be beat." — Jordan Wells Five Questions With … MEN'S TENNIS HEAD COACH RYAN SACHIRE Sachire was a three-time All- American for the Irish from 1997-2000 and served as an assistant from 2006-13 before being named head coach. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS