2023 Quincy Notre Dame Hall of Fame inductee: Jack Cornell

Editor’s Note: Quincy Notre Dame will hold its Hall of Fame induction ceremony at approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday between games of the 2023 QND Tip-Off Tourney at The Pit. Below is the biography used by the QND Hall of Fame committee to honor one of this year’s inductees.

QUINCY — Before Jack Cornell strolled the sidelines as Quincy Notre Dame’s football coach, he was a dominant player on the field.

Cornell, a 2007 graduate, earned three letters in football and four in wrestling. He was a first-team all-conference pick as a senior and a two-time All-Area selection by The Herald-Whig. He was a two-time All-State selection by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association, as well as the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Champaign News-Gazette.

He was named to the Max Emfinger All-American team in 2006. He was ranked as the 12th best recruit in Illinois and the 37th-best offensive tackle lineman nationally by Rivals.com. He was a four-star recruit by Scout.com, and he played in the Illinois Shrine Bowl as a senior.

At the University of Illinois, Cornell was a member of the Rose Bowl team in 2007. He was a three-year letterman and a two-year starter on the offensive line. He also played on two more bowl teams during his career with the Fighting Illini. He was voted as a team captain in 2011 and was the Red Grange Award winner.

Cornell was in the National football League for two seasons. He was a member of the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, which won Super Bowl 47. The Ravens released Cornell in August 2013, and he signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders in September 2013.

Cornell now is the head football coach and a physical education and health teacher at Quincy Notre Dame. He and his wife, Lauren, have a son, Troy.