Portal:Chicago/Selected biography/165

Ara Raoul Parseghian (born 1923) is a former American football player and coach of Armenian and French descent who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is widely regarded alongside Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy and Lou Holtz as one of the best coaches in Notre Dame history. Parseghian grew up in Akron, Ohio and played football starting in his junior year of high school. He enrolled at the University of Akron but joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he finished his college career at Miami University, and played for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference in 1948 and 1949. Cleveland won the league championship both of those years. His playing career cut short by a hip injury, Parseghian became an assistant coach at Miami. When head coach Woody Hayes left in 1951 to coach at Ohio State University, Parseghian replaced him until 1956, when he was hired by Northwestern University. After eight seasons there, he attracted the interest of the University of Notre Dame, which had posted five straight non-winning seasons. He joined as coach in 1964 and came close to capturing a national championship in his first year. He proceeded to win two national titles in 11 seasons as coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He posted an overall record of 95–17–4, giving him the third-most wins in school history. Parseghian quit coaching in 1974 and began a broadcasting career calling college football games for ABC and CBS. He also dedicated himself to medical causes later in life. Parseghian was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1980.