Ara Parseghian Dies at Age 94

I was born in 1964 during the first season of Ara Parseghian's magnificent run at the helm of Notre Dame. The day after I was born the Irish dispatched Navy 40-0 to improve to 6-0. It was a glorious season as Parseghian had returned the Irish to its former glory. That season would end in a disappointing 20-17 loss to Southern Cal but the Era of Ara had begun with aplomb. Two years later they finished the job with a national championship. I was two and therefore have no memories of that season other than what I have read and researched. But after three seasons at Notre Dame, during which he won a national championship and nearly won another, Parseghian was king. He remained respected for his coaching acumen and his gentlemanly manner but that start established expectations that no coach could meet. My earliest memories are vaguely of stars like quarterback Joe Thiesmann and wide receiver Tom Gatewood and clearly of the pressure of a job where the faithful demanded more and more titles. Right about the time some foolish fans began to think that the game had passed him by, Ara won a second championship in 1973. To do so he had to travel to New Orleans to beat Bear Bryant's undefeated Crimson Tide. That epic New Year's Eve clash remains a favorite for me and any Notre Dame fan who watched it. Quarterback Tom Clements was one of my first sports heroes but it was Ara who was the one coach that I had hoped I would play for. He was at his pinnacle when he stepped down two years later citing medical reasons. The job in South Bend is a difficult one. He remained in town and stayed in the game by becoming a broadcaster. His real mission though was to raise awareness and money to help combat Niemann-Pick Type C disease, a rare disorder that claimed the lives of three of his grandchildren. Ara Parseghian died today at age 94. I regret not dropping off one of my books at his South Bend home. He was a college football figure who in his intelligence and grace established in me a life-long love not just for the game but for finding in it a higher purpose.

View From Bennett Avenue

I finally got around to reading Jim Dent"s Resurrection about the 1964 football season at Notre Dame, and I was pleasantly surprised to see The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia in his bibliography. That is the first time I have seen my book referred to by another author and it certainly makes sense for Dent to have taken a gander at our work. While I did compile the Notre Dame statistics and lineup for that season, Bob Boyles was the one who wrote up the 1964 season. Great work Bob.
And what a fine year 1964 was for the Irish and for my family (my birth). Dent's book profiles the reclamation project brilliantly done by then first-year coach Ara Parseghian as he lifted Notre Dame from a dismal two-win season the year before to a near national championship. Dent does a fine job recreating the season as he follows it through the eyes of some of the players who were best utilized by the new coach. While the book is a natural for anyone interested in the history of Notre Dame football, it is a worthwhile read for fans nostalgic for a simpler time. What Parseghian accomplished was possible through sheer hard work and intelligent game planning. Now he would have to install his system and try to wait for the team to grasp the changes in concepts. While I certainly do not remember the 1964 season, I do remember the end of Ara's fine run as ND coach and I miss everything that he represented as a head coach.
One item near the end of the book that made me smile was Ara's talk to his team after their disappointing loss to USC at season's end that knocked them out of first place in the polls. While telling his team that he was proud of them, he also made it clear that he wanted them to act like Notre Dame men and to hold their heads high and not point fingers at the officiating crew, who made two huge calls that were questionable to say the least. I smiled because I thought of current Trojans coach Lane Kiffin who has been crying about the officiating from his loss to Stanford for a few days now and who still blames his team's loss to ND last season on a player. But the difference between Laney and Ara as head coaches and men are unbelievable huge.