Quotes from Ara Parseghian

That's the unpredictable part, and that's what worries every coach: Protect the football. That's why, when you go into a ballgame, you may be favored, but there's no guarantee you're going to win it.

I don't make hasty, impulsive decisions.

I coached at Northwestern for eight years, where the admission requirements were high.

I came to Notre Dame to renew the winning tradition.

I remember when I drove into Notre Dame, getting ready for the first day of work. I had an electrical charge go up my back because I realized all of a sudden that I was responsible for the traditions that the Knute Rocknes and the Frank Leahys had set, and what Notre Dame stood for.

You are going to get knocked down, but you don't lie there. You get up and face the challenge.

I can't think of anything that's hit me harder in my life than when I learned that three of our youngest grandchildren were diagnosed with Niemann-Pick C.

I don't think I was a miracle man. Neither were Lou Holtz or Frank Leahy. We all found ways to win.

As you move through life, it's not going to be a bright, sunshiny day every day.

The 1973 team is real special. I had never coached against Bear Bryant. Alabama had never played Notre Dame. It was North against South; the Catholics against the Baptists; both teams were undefeated, and everything was on the line.

When I make a fist, it's strong, and you can't tear it apart. As long as there's unity, there's strength.

If you can hang in games by staying close defensively, then good things can happen.

Getting to the top of the mountain is a heck of a lot easier than staying there.

The most difficult problem about coaching at Notre Dame is losing early.

My kids grew up here. My son and daughter both went to Notre Dame.

I had grown up during a time when Notre Dame football was held in the highest esteem. I listened to all of the games on the radio.

The best way I could describe it at Notre Dame was that I was accepted as a member of the family.

Whether you like it or not, you're a national figure after five games at Notre Dame.

One thing about Notre Dame, it's like a service academy in a lot of ways. There is a closeness.

It's a terrific honor. To be associated with the number of people who represent the Cradle of Coaches, it's sort of unreal in a sense.

You learn early in athletics that you'll have ups and downs.

On any play where there's a scramble of 22 men, blindside hits and unprotected hits on knees occur.

I was a 52-year-old coach. But people don't realize I had 25 years as a head coach. Most coaches my age only had a few years as head coach. I had six years at Miami of Ohio, eight years at Northwestern, 11 at Notre Dame.

I became a head football coach when I was 27 years old at Miami of Ohio.