Ara: The Life and Legacy of a Notre Dame Legend-The Authorized Biography of Coach Ara Parseghian

by Mark O. Hubbard, Rocky Bleier (Foreword by)

Overview

Ara: The Life and Legacy of a Notre Dame Legend captures the personality, courage, and character of a great man who faced adversity on and off the field.

Through his unprecedented access to Ara Parseghian’s personal files, author Mark O. Hubbard explores the coach’s innovative philosophy, organization, strategy, tactics, and motivational techniques with details to satisfy even the most knowledgeable football aficionado.

Hubbard chronicles Ara’s childhood and Catholic upbringing, his success as a football player, and the development of his coaching credentials at Miami of Ohio and Northwestern before delving into his sensational career at the University of Notre Dame.

From the moment Ara arrived on campus, the student body and the players were electrified, and Ara’s first season concluded with a dramatic reversal of the Fighting Irish’s fortunes as they competed for the national title. The Hall of Famer remains one of the most successful football coaches in Notre Dame history, amassing a career record of 95-17-4 and leading the Fighting Irish to undisputed national championships in 1966 and 1973.

After retiring from coaching, Ara became a successful businessman and television commentator, but his finest hours were spent in humanitarian causes, raising millions of dollars for medical research after members of his family were stricken with multiple sclerosis and Niemann-Pick Type C.

Peppered with historical context and humor, this lively biography of a Notre Dame legend will delight all sports fans, providing a chance to revisit college football’s golden age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268208516
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	08/01/2024
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Mark O. Hubbard is the author of Undisputed: Notre Dame, National Champions 1966 and the co-author of Forgotten Four: Notre Dame’s Greatest Backfield and the 1953 Undefeated Season.

Rocky Bleier is a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back and four time Super Bowl champion.

Read an Excerpt

Great teachers were at one time great students who themselves had great teachers. Parseghian credited the legendary Paul Brown with many of his successful coaching techniques. The enduring lesson that Ara took away from Brown was, “Never leave a game on the practice field on Thursday or Friday.” The translation is, don’t peak early or too soon in advance of the game. Prepare thoroughly, but don’t burn the team out in the process. Save the optimal mental and physical performance for Saturday afternoon when it counts. The winning edge is to make sure that every player is mentally into the game and believes he is better prepared than his opponent. It is a hallmark of Ara’s teams to a man. They believed that their coach was the smartest and best prepared person on the field. So, they had the edge going in. With that understanding, it made practicing during the week easier to endure and execution on game days more effective.

Well before he arrived in South Bend, Ara had made the transition from being a student of the coaching craft to becoming an innovator and a teacher himself. He had two personality traits working for him, and both had been obvious from his youth: intensity and leadership. From Brown he learned organization and management and added these to his portfolio.

Unlikely Friends

The moment you are named the head football coach at Notre Dame your popularity spikes, but so does your sense of isolation. Ara needed a confidant and a trusted friend to help him negotiate the tricky tides at Notre Dame. An outsider wouldn’t know some of the stress points, like historical salaries, the condition of facilities and equipment, or how many scholarships were in play, who could influence scheduling, disciplinary concerns, and the rules for hiring assistants without the help of an “insider.” Essentially, Joe Doyle, the sports editor at the South Bend Tribune, became that insider for Ara. The trust developed between Ara and Joe from the outset continued throughout Parseghian’s coaching tenure. They made an odd couple to be sure; the head coach and the sportswriter could well have been antagonists. It happens.

But the two met for coffee quite often at Milt’s Grill in downtown South Bend, around 5:30 a.m. before the coaches’ meeting on campus at 7:00. Doyle’s private counsel was invaluable to the new coach, especially when it came to understanding local South Bend customs or the Byzantine traditions of the Catholic Church as practiced on campus. Sometimes Joe simply offered friendly, practical advice. For example, Ara was quite concerned when halfback Nick Eddy wanted to get married during his junior season; Joe thought it might work out just fine, and it did. Joe claimed their friendship was built on one simple rule: “I never told Ara how to coach and he never told me what to write.”

A Providential Arrival

In 1964, Notre Dame was desperate for a coach who could return to the tradition of winning football games, but doing that with a view toward maintaining high standards in the face of more confining rules that were emerging from the NCAA. Ara Parseghian’s self-delivery to Notre Dame was nothing less than providential.

The highly respected sports information director at Notre Dame, Roger Valdiserri, who started in 1966, got to know the coach extremely well as he crafted the team’s public information and simultaneously guarded the Notre Dame “dogma.” He offered me this insightful reflection after sixty years of working closely with Ara, “When you are around Ara you feel like you’re at a disadvantage. You might be driving the same make and model car, but through some strange quirk of fate, you figure his came off the assembly line with a bigger engine.”

Jim Leahy was a player for Ara. His Notre Dame football roots run deep. He was the son of Notre Dame coaching legend Frank Leahy and later the father of two-time Notre Dame Football Captain Ryan Leahy. He left no room for doubt in his own reflection on Ara’s arrival, “My father had tremendous respect for Ara. We all did.”

(excerpted from chapter 10)

Table of Contents

Foreword by Rocky Bleier

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

First Quarter (1923–1943)

1. Roots

2. Kathleen

3. Conwell Findley

4. The Player

Second Quarter (1944–1963)

5. Oxford

6. Football Is a Coaches’ Game

7. Northwestern

8. Ted, Ned, and Moose

Third Quarter (1964–1974)

9. First Things

10. Winning Mindset

11. Sidelines

12. Strategy

13. The Playbook

14. Games That Mattered, 1964–1966

15. Fans and Nuts

16. Home and Away

17. Tug of War

18. No Joke

19. Games That Mattered, 1967–1974

Fourth Quarter (1975–2017)

20. Decision Time

21. Second Half

22. About an Eight

23. At the Podium

24. Hall of Fame

25. Bittersweet

26. Dear Coach

27. The Look and the Voice

28. Report Card

29. Last Respects

Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

"An extraordinary life." —Wall Street Journal

“Coaching is a sacred profession that gives you the opportunity to influence generations of young people. It isn’t always pretty, but it’s ultimately rewarding. This biography of my friend, Ara Parseghian, captures the raw essence of a legend and inspires us all to fight through any challenge to make a positive impact in this world.” —Lou Holtz, Notre Dame Football Head Coach, 1986–96

“Ara gives you the incredible opportunity to get to know the man behind the legacy. The more you read, the more you appreciate all Ara Parseghian has accomplished. I was blessed to have Ara as my coach, and I'm the man I am today because of him.” —Joe Theismann, world champion quarterback

"Mark O. Hubbard’s book, Ara, about Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian, is an absorbing sweet read. For all his success, Parseghian has always been the most mysterious of Notre Dame’s legendary coaches. Hubbard unlocks the mystery with a bright and shining light. Any fan of football will love this." —Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and The Mosquito Bowl

“When I met Ara Parseghian in 1964, little did I know the impact he would have on my life. In Ara: The Life and Legacy of a Notre Dame Legend, Mark O. Hubbard has captured Ara perfectly on and off the field.” —Terry Hanratty, Super Bowl IX and X champion quarterback

“Mark O. Hubbard delivers a comprehensive account of Ara’s multifaceted life. He introduces us not just to the legendary coach but also to the son of immigrants, the mischievous prankster, the astute businessman, and the devoted husband, father, and grandfather. Amidst his family’s battles with illness, Ara emerged as a beacon of hope and healing. Hubbard paints a portrait of joy, heartbreak, selfless service, and inspiration, celebrating a life truly well lived.”—Gregory P. Crawford, president, Miami University

“I felt from my time as a player, and then as a combination fan, admirer, and friend, that I knew Ara quite well, and this book really captures the true Ara, as a coach and man. To read this book is to know the real Coach Parseghian, even if you never met him.” —Peter Schivarelli, manager of the rock band Chicago and former Fighting Irish football player

“This book is a remarkable tribute to the history of Ara Parseghian, his background, and his soul. It is a history for all Notre Dame fans.” —Katie Parseghian, wife of Ara Parseghian

"'Ara made the entire difference. . . .He changed everything.' On the football field and off of it, as author Mark Hubbard’s book attests." —South Bend Tribune

Mark Hubbard's biography of Ara Parseghian is a worthy reminder of an era of life and college football worth recalling. —Illinois Times

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