Former Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian passes away at 94

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish head football coach Ara Parseghian passed away on Wednesday morning at 94 years of age.

It’s a sad day in South Bend, Indiana and really for the entire sport of college football. One of the greatest coaches in the sport’s history, Ara Parseghian, passed away Wednesday morning at 94 years of age.

Parseghian was a head football coach from 1951 to 1974 within the college football landscape. He got his first head coaching gig with the then-Miami Redskins, going 39-6-1 (19-2-1) in five seasons in the Mid-American Conference.

He would then spend 1956 to 1963 coaching the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten. Though he only amassed a 36-35-1 (22-31-1) record in Evanston, this is Northwestern football we’re talking about.

Parseghian would catch the attention of the University of Notre Dame, taking his coaching talents to South Bend in 1964. There, Parseghian became a football coaching legend. He went 95-17-4 in 11 seasons leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame finished every season ranked under Parseghian. The Fighting Irish won two national titles under Parseghian in 1966 and 1973. Overall, he would put together a coaching record of 170-58-6 in 24 seasons.

Parseghian was a no-doubt College Football Hall of Famer, elected in 1980. While Notre Dame had success under Lou Holtz and to some degree currently under Brian Kelly, Parseghian was the bridge to the modern era of college football in South Bend.

His players adored him and he got the most out of his talent. He is right up there with Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy as the greatest head coaches in Notre Dame football history.

Next: College Football's 25 Best Rivalries

Telling the story of Notre Dame football without a good chunk of it being about Parseghian is impossible. Well after he was done with coaching, Parseghian had a reverence about him. He was a very respected man and the college football world with certainly miss him.