Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2019 27 adding, "This guy has it all figured out." It's an assessment that Tran- quill humbly dismisses. "First and foremost, I am not per- fect by any measures, and I certainly don't try to be," he said. "I learned that sacrificing time and maybe de- voting a couple of hours that I was going to spend on that engineering problem, to spend with the guys was way more important in life than nec- essarily getting results all the time." Now, make no mistake, Tranquill hasn't compromised his fierce work ethic to spend more time lounging with teammates. Instead, he's again unintentionally set another example this season for his fellow Irish, playing most of this year with a broken hand and a nagging high-ankle sprain. Calling it a high pain threshold and an insatiable desire to lead, Tranquill and his bum ankle ran from the side- line against Northwestern — without the blessing of his coaches — and put himself in the game, telling sopho- more linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath he was out. Who was going to argue? "He's a warrior," fellow senior Irish linebacker Te'von Coney said. "That's the only word I can say for that guy. He's going to do anything to go out there and be with us." NOT DONE YET With his engineering degree in hand, two season-ending knee in- juries suffered earlier in his Notre Dame career, a breakout statistical season in 2017, and a marriage in July to his high school sweetheart, Jackie Gindt, Tranquill had myriad reasons this time last year to wrap up his college career and move on. However, he saw something brew- ing during the 2017 season that couldn't keep him away for a fifth go-around in 2018. "I made the decision to come back knowing we had the pieces," Tran- quill said. "… It's just a matter of guys going out on defense, 11 as one." Tranquill and his Irish teammates were rewarded with an undefeated regular season, a first-ever bid to the College Football Playoff and a date with Clemson Dec. 29 in a national semifinal. "Drue is not out there for himself but for the betterment of this team," Love added of Tranquill's decision to return for a graduate season. "He re- alized how special this could be." ✦

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