Category: Irish Lore

In “Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame” by Jim Dent, we are taken back to Hall of Fame Coach Ara Parseghian‘s first team meeting as Notre Dame head football coach, in a Golden Dome auditorium:

“… You know what it takes to win. Just look at my fist. When I make a fist, it’s strong and you can’t tear it apart. As long as there’s unity, there’s strength. We must become so close with the bonds of loyalty and sacrifice, so deep with the conviction of the sole purpose, that no one, no group, no thing, can ever tear us apart. …

“… You have to make a believer out of me that you want to be football players! And I must make you believe I am the best capable leader for you! What will I promise you? I will promise you that you will be the best-conditioned football team that Notre Dame has ever had. You will have absolutely the best strategy in football. I will constantly study and update our techniques. I will also promise you that my door will always be open to you and I will talk to you about anything. I will work as hard as I can. …”

“Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame,” (2009)  by best-selling sports author Jim Dent, is available on Amazon with editions in hardcover, paperback, kindle, and mass-market paperback. [The book’s author also made a related guest contribution to ESPN.]

Parseghian inherited a Notre Dame team that had gone 2-7 the year before and immediately improved them to 9-1 and a #3 final ranking in his inaugural season. Quarterback John Huarte won the Heisman.

After taking a #1 ranking into their final game, they finished within three points of winning a consensus national championship and were still credited with a non-consensus national title.

Parseghian would got on to win two consensus national championships and multiple major bowl games.

In a seismic shift for modern college football, Parseghian, in mid-stride, was the first coach since Knute Rockne to convince the Holy Cross Priests running Notre Dame to allow the team to go to bowls.

Indeed, Parseghian still won at least one national championship without going to a bowl.

It was during Parseghian’s Notre Dame tenure that the two major polls, who for many years awarded “mythical” national championships, started issuing final polls after the bowl games, after previously wrapping up the rankings at the end of the regular season.

Parseghian had an overall record at Notre Dame of 95-17-4 (.836). His overall career winning percentage of .739 included a stint at “the Cradle of Coaches,” Miami of Ohio, and a major rebuilding job at Northwestern. Within six years of retiring from Notre Dame, Pareseghian would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.