Notre Dame's Drue Tranquill Named 2016 Academic All-American
Even in the rubble of a 4-8 football season, diamonds can be found among the Fighting Irish student-athletes. One of them is junior safety Drue Tranquill. On Thursday, the Fort Wayne, Ind., native was named to the 2016 Academic All-America Division I Football Team, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Since the first such team was named in 1952, Tranquill became the 60th Notre Dame player to earn the honor (third only to Nebraska and Penn State), and the first since wide receiver Corey Robinson in 2014.
There are three requirements to be named an Academic All-American:
• First is to be a starter or key reserve.
Tranquill started all 12 games and led the team with 52 solo tackles, two for loss, and ranked second in total tackles with 79 (behind junior linebacker Nyles Morgan’s 94). He added two pass breakups and an interception.
• Second, he must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30 on a scale of 4.00.
Tranquill easily achieved that with a 3.74 GPA in the College of Engineering as a mechanical engineer, and has been on the Dean’s List twice in his first four semesters.
His 12-semester credit hours this fall semester are in Design of Machine Elements (how to construct engines and their functionality), Fluid Dynamics (the movement of fluid through pipes), AutoCAD (essentially drawing up parts and computers) and Fundamentals of Engineering and Business Practice, which focuses on high-level executive work that includes reading financial statements and account summaries.
• Finally, he must at least be a sophomore and be nominated by his sports information director.
Beyond the gridiron and classroom, Tranquill also is involved in numerous off-the-field community service programs. This includes serving as a mentor for the Core Leadership Team for Lifeworks Ministry, and he is on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and Rosenthal Leadership Academy.
Especially notable is that to achieve where he is at, he overcame season-ending ACL injuries in both 2014 and 2015. While his body and mind have led him to Notre Dame, it is his spirit that is the foremost bedrock of his life.
“It’s my faith in my Lord Savior Jesus Christ,” said Tranquill this August of his determination to return. “It’s just a perspective in life. I have the opportunity to come back and enjoy this great game of football, whereas a lot of people sometimes — whether they’re born with something or come down with cancer — they are not afforded that opportunity.
“I just consider myself extremely blessed to be out here again, being able to play this game and I’ll definitely cherish that. I was able to keep a perspective on what I was going through and keep a certain reference point, and that really helped me.”
From that, Tranquill also this season launched the "5th Quarter" post-game event, which shares his story of perseverance with the South Bend community at the Granger Oasis Church.
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