NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 02: Xavier Watts #0 and Jack Kiser #24 of Notre Dame Fighting … [+]
Two years ago, Tom Mendoza met with the Notre Dame football team. Mendoza, a 1973 alum and former president and vice president of NetApp, had donated to the University’s business school in 2000 and enjoyed giving back, both financially and as a mentor to students.
Mendoza told the players they could arrive at any time, and many did, including Jack Kiser, a defenseman and business major. Kiser and Mendoza connected via Zoom, talked about their backgrounds and dreams, and forged a bond that lasts to this day.
“Jack has to be one of the most impressive guys I’ve ever met,” Mendoza said.
On Monday night, Kiser will play in his school-record 70th and final game when the Irish face Ohio State in the College Football Playoff championship game in Atlanta. Over the past six years, since arriving at Notre Dame in January 2019 as an early enrollee, Kiser has made a lasting impact on the football field as well as in the classroom and community.
Kiser, a captain, has a team-leading 85 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He is one of four Notre Dame defensive players to start all 15 games this season. And he’s been a steady force for a defense that lost multiple starters to injuries late in the season but still allowed just 14.3 points per game, second in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Ohio State (12.2 points per game).
Kiser’s academic achievements are equally impressive. He earned his undergraduate degree in three and a half years, taking summer courses to get ahead and finishing with a 3.82 GPA while majoring in business analytics. After graduating in 2022, Kiser continued his studies by enrolling in the one-year Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program.
That summer, Kiser took five introductory courses over a seven-week period to learn the basics of accounting before the MSA program began in the fall. He was worried, though, because he wouldn’t be able to make five of the classes because of conflicts with football, so he talked to Keith Urtel, a professor who oversaw the summer program. Urtel agreed to let him record the classes, giving Kiser enough time to watch the lectures and discuss the material later in the night.
“Each of those times, it was clear that he had seen the video, and he came to the meeting with very specific questions about the class,” said Urtel, a former managing partner at EY. “We would talk for 15 or 20 minutes, and he would ask me questions and then he would talk and maybe there would be some follow-up. It was very clear that he was a very quick learner and very organized.”
Despite his lack of prior accounting experience, Kiser graduated with a 3.97 GPA, earning the Tom Frecka Award for the MSA student with the highest GPA. He also won the Dean’s Graduate Business Award, which is voted on by the faculty and honors someone for teamwork, leadership and academic skills.
“He would always be very engaged in class, always asking questions,” said Jim Seida, an accounting professor and academic director of the MSA program. “Or if the professor would prompt the class, Jack would always be willing to answer those questions as best he could to get the discussions going. He was always prepared to jump in. He’s kind of like your student. model.”
Since graduating from the MSA program in May 2023, Kiser has continued to take graduate business courses. During the spring of 2024, he enrolled in a class where students learn to prepare income tax returns and then help local residents prepare their taxes. Every Thursday night, Kiser and his classmates spent three hours providing free tax help to low-income people, many of whom were senior citizens.
“He was so kind, so polite, so patient in dealing with all the taxpayers,” said Colleen Creighton, an accounting professor and former managing director at Deloitte who oversaw the tax preparation program. “They hear taxes and they kind of go crazy. He would take the time to listen to them, let them tell their stories, but then he would complete their tax returns, explain the tax returns to them, take the time to answered any questions they had. And the best part about Jack is that you tell him something once and he understands it.”
Kiser also helps share his business acumen with teammates. During the spring, Kiser invited players to his home and offered financial guidance, as well as discussing the tax implications of name, image and likeness deals and setting aside money.
“Jack did a great job of getting the guys together and saying, ‘This is what you need to do, and this is where you need to save, invest and do those things,'” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said. .
Kiser has served as a leader on the field, as well, using his experience to help first-year linebackers coach Max Bullough and help new linemen such as freshmen Jaiden Ausberry and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and students sophomore Jaylen Sneed and Drayk Bowen. Kiser played in just four games as a 2019 freshman, maintaining a year of eligibility and taking advantage of an NCAA rule that granted an extra year to players affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in his sixth season in college, he has sometimes called meetings with linebackers to watch film, examine opposing tendencies and help Notre Dame’s linebackers improve.
“I think that’s where Jack has been masterful,” Golden said. “It’s easy for guys, growing up, to say, ‘Well, you’re just a freshman.’ This is not Jack. Jack has embraced those guys and I don’t know if we’d be here if he didn’t embrace those guys.”
Viliamu-Asa said: “He is like an uncle. He’s really nice, really talkative, very approachable. He is always like the brain of the group. He is the voice of reason. He’s someone you can look up to.”
Bullough said: “He’s just another person they have to go to besides me to ask about the intricacies of things. It’s been really helpful for those young guys.”
This year, Kiser was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the Wuerrfel Trophy and the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, which honor players for their football achievements, academic success and involvement in community service. At Notre Dame, Kiser has twice served as chairman of the players’ committee for the Cleats for a Cause initiative, selecting charities that would benefit from the program’s fundraising through an online auction and organizing teammates’ appearances on behalf of those charities. He has also been involved in the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program, where Irish players connect with local pediatric cancer patients.
“I didn’t choose Notre Dame to be a great football player,” Kiser said. “I chose Notre Dame to be a great man. And I think that’s certainly been the challenge that every day is going to work, whether that’s in the classroom, the community, or the field. We talk about the gold standard with coach (Marcus) Freeman. This is not only on the football field. This is not just in the boardroom. It’s in every aspect of your life.”
Kiser has taken advantage of all that Notre Dame has to offer, including its alumni network. Since former Irish receiver Amir Carlisle took over as the football program’s director of player development in March 2023, Carlisle has reached out to numerous students who have pledged to connect with players and help them learn about careers outside of football . Mendoza has spoken to the team on numerous occasions and offered his advice on the importance of building relationships with alumni and leaders in business and other industries while the players are still students.
“All these guys are so impressive when I talk to them,” Mendoza said. “They are so mature and think about maximizing every potential they have while at the University of Notre Dame. Out of that whole group, who is the guy who impresses me the most with all these attributes right now? It would probably be Jack. He’s just very, very grounded. There is let’s talk about me stuff. It’s like, what can we do? How can we win? How can we help? Those are good attributes for life in my opinion.”
Kiser, who turned 24 in September, hopes to be selected in April’s NFL draft and have a long professional career. However, he has expressed an interest in the financial services industry, according to Mendoza, who along with his accounting professors said Kiser should have no shortage of companies eager to hire him whenever his days are over. of the game.
“Certainly we have the alumni network to be able to talk to people and bounce ideas off of them and understand what makes you successful in the business world,” Kiser said. “I want to play football as long as I can and see where it can take me. But at the end of the day, I’m very comfortable going into the business world and I understand what it takes.”
On Saturday afternoon, Kiser and the rest of the Irish practiced at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of the CFP Championship. The players wore T-shirts and shorts during the 15 minutes the media could watch, going through some drills but taking it easy and not hitting in preparation for Monday’s game. It was one of the last times Kiser would be on the field with his teammates in a long college career that began with a different coach (Brian Kelly) and before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kiser is looking for the perfect finish, helping the Irish win their first national title since 1988. Still, he’s already made his mark at a school that takes its football tradition seriously and embraces elite athletes.
“He’s a Notre Dame icon,” Golden said. “He represents everything we want to represent in the classroom, in the community, on the football field. Everything he’s been through right now is truly deserved, and I know it — he’s been a blessing in my life.”
