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Ara Raoul Parseghian (born May 21, 1923 in Akron, Ohio) is a former collegiate football coach who served as head coach for three teams, most notably the University of Notre Dame team from 1964-1974. During his 11 seasons as head coach with the Fighting Irish (known popularly as "the Era of Ara"), he compiled a 95-17-4 record, for a .836 winning percentage, making him the most successful Notre Dame coach of the modern era. His appointment at Notre Dame fulfilled a prediction in his high school yearbook, in which under his photo was written, "Someday he'll be the coach at Notre Dame!"

After serving in the Navy during WWII, Parseghian graduated from Miami University and had a short professional football career with the Cleveland Browns from 1947-1949. In 1950, he returned to Miami as a graduate assistant, coaching the freshman squad under Woody Hayes, then was elevated to head coach when Hayes left at the end of the season to accept the top job at Ohio State University. Coaching at Miami for five years from 1951-1955, Parseghian then left for Northwestern University, handling the head coaching duties for eight years from 1956-1963. During his tenure at Northwestern, his teams notched four consecutive victories over Notre Dame, a fact that was not overlooked by Irish followers.

Following the 1963 season, after a falling out with Northwestern athletic director Stu Holcomb, Parseghian contacted the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, vice president and chairman of the faculty board in control of athletics at Notre Dame, knowing that the head coaching job was open. Notre Dame had not had a winning season since 1958, and fans were hoping for a "6-4 in '64" record, a modest goal. Parseghian's interest in the job was notable for two reasons: first, he was not a graduate of Notre Dame, though some previous ND coaches had graduated from the University of Michigan; and second, he was not a Roman Catholic (Parseghian is Presbyterian). The latter was not a major issue however, as Harper, Rockne (who later converted) and McKeever were also non-Catholic. After an initial disagreement that was never fully disclosed, he was named head coach at Notre Dame and quickly turned the program around, improving their record from 2-7 the previous year to a record of 9-1 with virtually the same personnel, with only a 20-17 loss in the season finale to archrival USC keeping the Irish from a unanimous national championship.

Part of the reason for this rapid turnaround, aside from Parseghian's superior organizational skills, was his ability to put the right players in the right positions. The previous season, Notre Dame had employed an "elephant backfield" consisting of 235-pound fullback Pete Duranko and a pair of mammoth halfbacks: 240-pound Paul Costa and 250-pound Jim Snowden. Costa was moved to defensive end, Snowden became an offensive tackle and Duranko was shifted to defensive tackle. Parseghian also made a bargain-basement find in little-used quarterback John Huarte and end Jack Snow. Together these two players would break numerous school records for passing and receiving in 1964, and Huarte would end up winning the Heisman Trophy. In the process, Ara would earn "Coach of the Year" honors.

Over the next decade, he won two National Championships (1966 and 1973), as well as three bowl games once the school ended its no-bowl policy. The 1964 squad was also awarded the MacArthur Bowl. However, for all of his success at Notre Dame, Parseghian was branded as someone who "played for ties" or "couldn't win the big ones". The first jab was a result of his decision to play it safe and run out the clock to preserve a 10-10 deadlock with Michigan State in the "Game of the Century" on November 19, 1966. With the ball in his own territory and playing without offensive stars Terry Hanratty, Nick Eddy, and George Goeddeke, he didn't want to risk a turnover that could hand the game to Michigan State, whose defense featured All-Americans Bubba Smith and George Webster.

The second was due to the fact that he just couldn't seem to get through a season without a loss or tie. Purdue proved to be a painful thorn in Notre Dame's side through the late 60s, and USC was even more formidable (Ara finished 3-6-2 against the Trojans, the only team to have a winning edge over Notre Dame during his era). The 1964 team was 9-0 and ranked first before the aforementioned loss to USC. Following the 1969 season, Notre Dame appeared in its first bowl game in 45 years when it lost in the 1970 Cotton Bowl to national champion Texas, by a score of 21 to 17. In the following season of 1970, the Irish were 9-0 and ranked second before closing the season with a 38-28 loss to a 6-4-1 USC team in Los Angeles in a monsoon despite a herculean effort by quarterback Joe Theismann, who set a still-standing school record with 526 passing yards in a single game. The setback to the Trojans became even more galling after the Irish ended the Texas Longhorns' 30-game winning streak with a 24-11 victory in the 1971 Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day, utilizing a "mirror" defense to keep the Longhorns' wishbone offense off balance and avenging the loss to Texas the previous season. . The victory left Notre Dame ranked second in the Associated Press poll behind the Nebraska Cornhuskers. (Texas already won the United Press International national championship, whose final poll was taken prior to the bowl games.)

That all changed in 1973, when following two seasons of not finishing in the Top Ten for the first time in the Era of Ara, Notre Dame fashioned a 10-0 regular season mark and edged Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl, in what many consider one of the most exciting college football games of all time. Freshman speedster Al Hunter returned an Alabama kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and as an exclamation point, Ara elected to pass out of his own end zone on third down with just over two minutes remaining, as Tom Clements hit backup tight end Robin Weber with a 35-yard completion. It was a daring call that paid off and silenced Ara's critics and gave the Irish the AP national championship (Alabama had already won the UPI championship; this game led to the UPI taking its final poll after the bowl games for the first time following the 1974 season) as well as the unblemished season that had eluded him.

Parseghian considered retiring on top following that Sugar Bowl victory, but later decided to stay on. With only a handful of starters graduating, the Irish were favored to repeat as national champions in 1974. Then came misfortune. Six players were suspended for a dormitory infraction, and several other key players were injured before the season even started. Three of Ara's close friends died within a few months of each other. The team seemed to be going through the motions early in the season and was even upset by lowly Purdue, a 30-point underdog, 31-20. All of this, as well the constant pressure to win, finally took its toll, and Parseghian privately decided after the eighth game to resign at the end of the 1974 season, citing burnout and health concerns. He almost changed his mind after the season finale against USC, one of the strangest games in college football history. The Irish could do no wrong in the first half in taking a 24-0 lead, only to see the Trojans score 55 points in just under 17 minutes to win, 55-24. His resignation was made public in mid-December, then before Ara could recommend any of his assistants, most notably offensive coordinator Tom Pagna, for the head coaching position, Dan Devine was immediately named to succeed him. Ara was deeply upset about that, so much so that he subsequently had little regard for Devine, suspecting that Devine may have orchestrated his own hiring. Notre Dame's 13-11 victory over Alabama in the 1975 Orange Bowl enabled him to go out on a winning note.

At the time of his resignation, Parseghian intended to take one year off from coaching, then see if he still "felt the itch" to return afterwards. Although he briefly considered taking a sabbatical leave from Notre Dame and returning later, he didn't do so, feeling it would be unfair to have an assistant take the head coaching reigns only to have to step aside after one year. Since he regarded Notre Dame as the ultimate collegiate head coaching job, he would only consider offers from the professional ranks. As it turned out, Ara's last coaching appearance was in the 1976 College All-Star Game against the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The game, played at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 24, was halted late in the third quarter when a severe thunderstorm accompanied by torrential rain broke out. Play was never resumed. It was the last such game ever played.

Ara found himself in the center of a rumor mill during the 1975 season after Notre Dame started out 5-2. Supposedly Devine was going to be dismissed and either Ara or Don Shula would take over. Parseghian quashed any such speculation by stating he would not, under any circumstances, return to Notre Dame.

After leaving Notre Dame, Parseghian embarked on a successful business career. He also served as a color analyst for ABC Sports from 1975 to 1981 and for CBS Sports from 1982 to 1988. Occasionally he would be assigned to do color commentary for games involving the Irish and while he did his best to remain impartial, occasionally his deep feelings for Notre Dame would surface, especially while the team still had players he had recruited. He found himself doing commentary in the 1976 season opener which saw the Irish take on Pittsburgh, and at one point Notre Dame recovered a Pitt fumble. The juniors and seniors on that team had been recruited by Parseghian and he couldn't help exclaiming, "That's a big break for us!" Play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson came right back with, "It's not 'us' anymore, Ara!" It was an excuseable miscue, as Ara no doubt said it automatically. Nowadays, whenever he speaks of Notre Dame, it's always, "us."

His career coaching record was 170-58-6: 39-6-1 at Miami, 36-35-1 at Northwestern, and 95-17-4 at Notre Dame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and named an honorary Notre Dame alumnus in 1974.

He is married to the former Kathleen Davis. They are parents of three children.

Ara Parseghian is currently the National Spokesman for the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping find a cure for Niemann-Pick disease. He has also dedicated much of his time for the cause to find a cure for multiple sclerosis; his eldest daughter, Karan, was diagnosed with the disease.

In the 1993 film Rudy, Parseghian is portrayed by actor Jason Miller.

Preceded by Woody Hayes	Miami University Head Football Coach 1951–1955	Succeeded by John Pont
Preceded by Lou Saban	Northwestern University Head Football Coach 1956-1963	Succeeded by Alex Agase
Preceded by Hugh Devore	University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach 1964–1974	Succeeded by Dan Devine
Preceded by Darrell Royal	Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1964	Succeeded by Duffy Daugherty

Willburn 02:52, 10 March 2007 (UTC)w02:52, 10 March 2007 (UTC)Willburnwilburn