Ara Parseghian

Legendary coach Ara Parseghian, who guided the University of Notre Dame's 1966 and 1973 national championship football teams and is a member of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, died at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday (Aug. 2 2017) at his home in Granger, Indiana, the University's president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced. He was 94. Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980, Parseghian led the Irish to a 95-17-4 record (.836) over his 11 seasons in South Bend, highlighted by the 1966 and 1973 teams that finished 9-0-1 and 11-0-0, respectively, and claimed Notre Dame's eighth and ninth consensus national championships. Parseghian retired from coaching after the 1974 season and entered broadcasting. He worked as a color commentator with ABC Sports from 1975-81 and served as college football analyst for CBS Sports through the 1988 season. In 1994, Parseghian, along with his son Michael and daughter-in-law Cindy, started the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation to fund the study of Niemann-Pick Type C Disease (NPC) in hopes of moving toward a cure. The foundation has raised more than $45 million to combat the disease, which claimed three of Parseghian's grandchildren, Michael and Cindy's children, Michael, Marcia and Christa. Building on a partnership the University formed with the foundation in 2010, the University established the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Fund in May 2016 and moved the administrative functions and granting process of the foundation from Tucson, Arizona, to Notre Dame. Born May 21, 1923, in Akron, Ohio, Parseghian was married to the former Kathleen "Katie" Davis. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in 1949 and 1954 from Miami (Ohio) University. He is survived by Katie, two children -- Kristan Parseghian Humbert and her husband, James Humbert; Michael Parseghian, the secretary/treasurer of the research foundation and member of the University's College of Science Advisory Council, and his wife, Cindy, president of the foundation and a Notre Dame Trustee; son-in-law James Burke; and six grandchildren. His daughter Karan Burke and three grandchildren preceded him in death. Parseghian played football and graduated from Akron South High School in 1942, and enrolled at the University of Akron later that fall, but withdrew to serve the U.S. Navy for two years during World War II. He was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Academy in 1944, where he continued his football career as a member of its football team, which was coached by the legendary NFL Hall of Famer Paul Brown. After his term of service, Parseghian continued his education and athletic career at Miami University, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He was not only drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 13th round (109th overall) of the 1947 NFL Draft, but also was selected in 1948 by the Cleveland Browns in the 25th round (177th overall) of the rival All-America Football Conference draft. He would ultimately play halfback for the Browns (coached by Brown, Parseghian's coach at Great Lakes) in 1948 and 1949. Cleveland won the league championship both of those years, but a hip injury ended Parseghian's playing career. He returned to Miami in 1950 as an assistant coach under Woody Hayes and was named head coach in 1951 following Hayes' departure to Ohio State. Parseghian's five Miami teams combined for a 39-6-1 record (.859), including a 32-3-1 mark over his final four campaigns, and won a pair of Mid-American Conference championships (1954 and 1955). Parseghian moved on to Northwestern in 1956 and coached the Wildcats for eight years. He compiled a 36-35-1 (.507) mark and helped turn a perennial loser into a consistent contender in the national polls. Parseghian turned his attention to Notre Dame and its rebuilding efforts in 1964.