Two years ago, Tom Mendoza met with the Notre Dame football team. Mendoza, a 1973 alum and former NetApp president and vice chairman, had endowed 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 reach out anytime, and many did, including Jack Kiser, a linebacker and top business student. Kiser and Mendoza connected via Zoom, spoke about their backgrounds and dreams and made a connection that lasts to this day.
“Jack’s got to be one of the most impressive guys that I’ve 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 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 steadying force for a defense that has lost multiple starters to season-ending injuries but still allowed only 14.3 points per game, second in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Ohio State (12.2 points per game).
Kiser’s academic accomplishments are just as impressive. He earned his undergraduate degree in three and a half years, taking summer classes to get ahead and finishing with a 3.82 grade point average while majoring in business analytics. After graduating in 2022, Kiser continued his studies by enrolling in the one-year Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program.
That summer, Kiser took five introductory courses over a seven-week period to learn the fundamentals of accounting before the MSA program began in the fall. He was concerned, though, because he wouldn’t be able to make five of the classes due to conflicts with football, so he spoke with Keith Urtel, a professor who oversaw the summer program. Urtel agreed he would 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 he had watched the video, and he came to the meeting with very specific questions about the class,” said Urtel, a former managing partner at EY. “We’d chat for 15 or 20 minutes, and he’d ask me questions and then talk and maybe have some follow up. It was very clear he’s a very fast learner and very organized.”
Despite his lack of prior experience in accounting, 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 upon by the faculty and honors someone for their teamwork, leadership and academic skills.
“He’d always be very engaged in class, always asking questions,” said Jim Seida, an accounting professor and the MSA program’s academic director. “Or if the professor was prompting the class, Jack would always be willing to provide an answer as best he could to those questions to get discussions going. He was always prepared going in. He’s kind of like your model student.”
Since graduating from the MSA program in May 2023, Kiser has continued taking 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. Each Thursday night, Kiser and his classmates spent three hours providing free tax aid to low-income people, many of whom were senior citizens.
“He was so polite, so kind, so patient with dealing with all of the taxpayers,” said Colleen Creighton, an accounting professor and former managing director at Deloitte who oversaw the tax preparation program. “They hear tax and they kind of freak out. He would take the time to listen to them, let them tell their stories but then get their tax returns done, explain the tax returns to them, take time to answer any questions that they had. And he best part about Jack is, you tell him something once, and he’s got it.”
Kiser helps share his business acumen with teammates, too. During the spring, Kiser invited players over to his house and provided 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 say, ‘This is what you have to do, and this is where you should be saving and investing and doing those things,’” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said.
Kiser has served as a leader on the field, as well, using his experience to aid first-year linebackers coach Max Bullough and help young linebackers such as freshmen Jaiden Ausberry and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and sophomores Jaylen Sneed and Drayk Bowen. Kiser played in just four games as a freshman in 2019, preserving a year of eligibility, and benefited from an NCAA rule that granted an extra year for players who were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in his sixth season in college, he has at times called meetings with the linebackers to watch film, go over opponents’ tendencies and help Notre Dame’s linebackers improve.
“I think that’s where Jack has been masterful,” Golden said. “It’s easy for guys, when they get older, to say, ‘Well, you’re just a freshman.’ That’s not Jack. Jack has embraced those guys, and I don’t know if we would be here if he didn’t embrace those guys.”
Said Viliamu-Asa: “He’s like an uncle. He’s really nice, really well-spoken, very approachable. He’s always like the brains of the group. He’s the voice of reason. He’s somebody that you can look up to.”
Said Bullough: “He’s just another person for them to go to besides me to ask about the intricacies of stuff. It’s been really helpful to 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 community service involvement. At Notre Dame, Kiser has twice served as the player committee chairman for the Cleats for a Cause initiative, choosing charities that would benefit from the program’s raising of money via an online auction and organizing teammates’ appearances on behalf of those charities. He has also been involved with the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program, where Irish players connect with local pediatric patients who are suffering from cancer.
“I didn’t choose Notre Dame to come be a great football player,” Kiser said. “I chose Notre Dame to come be a great man. And I think that’s certainly been the challenge every single day is going to work, whether that’s in the classroom, community or on the field. We talk about the golden standard with coach (Marcus) Freeman. That’s not just on the football field. That’s not just in the meeting room. 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 alumni who have committed to connect with players and help them learn about careers outside of football. Mendoza has spoken with the team on multiple 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’re so mature and thinking about maximizing every potential they have while they’re at the University of Notre Dame. Of all of that group, who’s the guy that impresses me the most with all of these attributes right now? It’d probably be Jack. He’s just very, very grounded. There’s no 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, is hoping to get selected in April’s NFL draft and have a long professional career. Still, 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 playing days are over.
“Certainly we have the alumni network to be able to talk to and bounce ideas off people 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 that can take me. But at the end of the day, I feel very comfortable stepping into the business world and understand what that takes.”
On Saturday afternoon, Kiser and the rest of the Irish practiced at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 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 final times Kiser would be on a 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 ending, helping the Irish win their first national title since 1988. Still, he’s already made a mark at a school that takes its football tradition seriously and embraces well-rounded athletes.
“He is a Notre Dame icon,” Golden said. “He represents everything that we want to represent in the classroom, in the community, on the football field. Everything that he’s experienced right now is really well deserved, and I know this –he’s been a blessing in my life.”
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