Iconic Notre Dame coach a philanthropist off field
Fighting Irish won 2 national titles in his 11-year reign
Ara Parseghian reached the pinnacle of his profession at Notre Dame and endured the most painful personal losses as a father and grandfather.
He walked away from coaching at the age of 51 after winning two national championships, but he never really left the Fighting Irish. He built a legacy through philanthropy that he hoped would be far more meaningful than any of his many victories.
Parseghian died Wednesday at his Indiana home in Granger, where he lived with Katie Parseghi- an, his wife of 68 years. He was 94.
Parseghian recently returned home after spending more than a week in a nursing care facility in South Bend. He was treated for an infection in his surgically repaired hip.
“Among his many accomplishments, we will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field,” Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins said in statement. “He continued to demonstrate that leadership by raising millions of research dollars seeking a cure for the terrible disease that took the lives of three of his grandchildren. Whenever we asked for Ara’s help at Notre Dame, he was there.”
Widely beloved
Jenkins will preside over a mass for Parseghian on Sunday at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame . A public memorial service will be held later at the Joyce Center.
Parseghian took over at Notre Dame in 1964 when the Fighting Irish were down. They hadn’t had a winning season in five years and had gone 2-7 in 1963. He quickly restored the Golden Dome’s luster and led the Irish to national titles in 1966 and 1973. He abruptly retired after the 1974 season, saying he was worn out and ready for a change. Despite offers from other colleges and NFL teams he never returned to coaching.
His .836 winning percentage puts him third on Notre Dame’s coaching list behind fellow College Football Hall of Famers Knute Rockne (.881) and Frank Leahy (.855). At Notre Dame, they are considered the “Holy Trinity” of coaches. Only Rockne (105, 1918-30) and Lou Holtz (100, 1986-96) won more games at Notre Dame than Parseghian (95-17-4).
“When you find any successful coach, there’s always a portion of the players who didn’t like him. From the top All-American to the guy who never got to see the field, everybody loved Ara,” former Notre Dame quarterback Terry Hanratty said. “That’s a really great human being.”
Parseghian started his coaching career at Miami University, his alma mater, and then spent eight years leading Northwestern.
Former Northwestern captain Jay Robertson recalled Parseghian’s attention to detail, and how he would get down on his hands and knees to coach the quarterbacks on how to properly take a snap.
“That great desire that he had to win and to do everything perfect did not include anything that would embarrass himself or the team or the university,” Robertson said. “I don’t remember ever him preaching to us about anything. He just lived it and we followed it.”
Parseghian didn’t just revive Notre Dame football. He made Fighting Irish fans believe in the program again. He began his tenure in South Bend with an impromptu pep rally that drew 2,000 students to the steps of a residence hall and eventually persuaded Notre Dame to end its longstanding policy against playing in bowl games.
In 1980, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2007, Notre Dame unveiled a statue of Parseghian outside Notre Dame Stadium. Family heartache
After stepping down, Parseghian went into television and spent more than a decade calling games on ABC and CBS.
In 1994, his family was hit with devastating news. Three of his son Mike’s children were found to have Niemann-Pick disease type C. Parseghian helped create the Ara Parseghian Medical Foundation in response.
He already had been active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society after his daughter, Karan, was diagnosed decades earlier.
The Parseghians lost three grandchildren between the ages of 9-16 to Niemann-Pick disease from 1997-2005. The foundation has raised more than $45 million for research on the disease.
In 2014, Parseghian’s daughter, Karan Burke, died at 61.