Notre Dame graduate linebacker Jack Kiser has been named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America first team, recognizing the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Kiser is one of 25 selections to the first team and becomes the 38th Fighting Irish student-athlete to earn first-team honors (the 38 players have combined to earn the honor 46 times). Linebacker JD Bertrand was the most recent Irish player to earn the honor last season.
Kiser was selected for the honor by a national vote after earning CSC Academic All-District honors earlier this month.
Kiser, a team captain, was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy and the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, and was named to the 2024 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team. He earned Notre Dame’s team award for the program Man of the Year.
One of the most tenured players on Notre Dame’s roster and a team captain, Kiser completed his sixth season playing for the Irish and led the linebacker room. He holds the record for most games ever played at Notre Dame (70).
Kiser notched 275 career tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks, four interceptions (two pick-sixes), 11 passes defended, six forced fumbles and a blocked kick.
He led the Irish in 2024 in tackles with 90 as a mainstay on defense and 16-game starter for Notre Dame. His 65 tackles in 2023 placed him third among Irish defenders and his 58 tackles in 2022 ranked him second on the team.
Owning two Notre Dame degrees, Kiser was a force in the classroom. He achieved a 3.82 undergraduate GPA, majoring in business analytics, and a 3.97 GPA to earn his master’s degree in accountancy. He was named to the 2024 National Football Foundation Honor Society.
Graduating in 2022, he continued his pursuit of academic rigor in the Master’s in Accountancy program, becoming the top-ranked student in the entire class. Kiser earned selection to the Dean’s List in Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021 and Spring 2022.
In May of 2023, Kiser was awarded the Dean’s Graduate Business Award, given to the student in each program, nominated by faculty, who demonstrates strong leadership amongst his/her classmates, shows promise for future professional success, and has a strong record of scholarship. He also earned the Tom Frecka Academic Achievement Award, recognizing the top GPA in the entire Master’s of Science in Accountancy program.
Kiser has led and participated in several community-facing initiatives during his time at Notre Dame. He has twice served as the player committee chairman for the program’s Cleats For a Cause initiative, and he served as the Fighting Irish Fight for Life football team lead for the past three years.
Additionally, Kiser worked with local low-income families to perform tax returns this past spring on a weekly basis leading up to Tax Day. He has also made an impact in his home community, as he visited his former youth football team to surprise local kids from his area, spend time with the team, and give them tickets to a Notre Dame Football game.