Notre Dame High School’s Howie Sompayrac resigned as athletics director April 8 after 15 years in the position.
Mr. Sompayrac has accepted a job at St. Joseph School in Knoxville, where he will be the director of School Advancement. His wife, Cathy, has been offered an elementary teaching position there as well.
During Mr. Sompayrac’s tenure, the Fighting Irish athletic teams experienced an unprecedented amount of success, earning seven state championships, five state runner-up finishes, 51 individual state champions (including track relays), and more than 50 team state Final Four finishes. The number of state champions and Final Fours (in the last 15 years) is more than in the previous 50-year history of the school.
“One of the things that I am most proud of is that we have had 13 different sports reach a state Final Four and/or state championship game in the last 15 years,” Mr. Sompayrac told Chattanoogan.com. “When I accepted the job 15 years ago, I received a call from Jon Keene (former Irish AD and state-champion baseball coach), and he said, ‘Do you want some unsolicited advice? To be the best AD you can be, you should treat every sport like you have a rising ninth-grade son or daughter that is about to play that sport at the school.’ That was some great advice that I have tried to live by the last 15 years.”
