The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Ara Parseghian

Followed Hugh Devore. Ara Parseghian took Notre Dame from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

The empire-builder
131–52
1956–1974 · 2 stints
NorthwesternNotre Dame
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerNORTHWESTERNNOTRE DAMEDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelNorthwestern, 1956: 4-4, Regional Program I1956Northwestern, 1957: 0-9, Regional Program IINorthwestern, 1958: 5-4, Regional Program IINorthwestern, 1959: 6-3, National Program IIINorthwestern, 1960: 5-4, National Program IINorthwestern, 1961: 4-5, National Program IINorthwestern, 1962: 7-2, National Program IINorthwestern, 1963: 5-4, National Program I1963+11.9Notre Dame, 1964: 9-1, Power Program I1964Notre Dame, 1965: 7-2, Power Program INotre Dame, 1966: 9-0, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1967: 8-2, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1968: 7-2, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1969: 8-2, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1970: 10-1, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1971: 8-2, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1972: 8-3, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1973: 11-0, Blue BloodNotre Dame, 1974: 10-2, Blue Blood1974+29.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 11th career season — faster than 16% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #82 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Northwestern, 8 seasons
+11.9
Regional Program I → National Program I.
Notre Dame, 11 seasons
+29.0
Power Program I → Blue Blood.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

8–10 against his rivals. Just 1–3 against Forest Evashevski.

Rivalry record
8–10–2
40.0% · 3 rivals
One-score games
28–24–5
49.1% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
USC3–6–227%
Illinois4–450%
Stanford1–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Forest Evashevski1–3
4 meetings, 1957–1960
’57 L’58 L’59 W’60 L
25% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
11–12 47.8%
Power Program
41–28 59.4%
National Program
39–9 81.2%
Regional Program
40–2 95.2%

Coaching career

1964–1974
Notre Dametransformer
Power Program II → Blue Blood
Ara Parseghian took Notre Dame from Power Program II to Blue Blood.

3rd-best Notre Dame tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Hugh Devore (1945–1963) · succeeded by Dan Devine (1975–1980).

95–17
1956–1963
Northwesterncaretakerborderline
Regional Program I → National Program I
Ara Parseghian moved Northwestern from Regional Program I to National Program I in 8 seasons.

3rd-best Northwestern tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Followed Lou Saban (1955–1955) · succeeded by Alex Agase (1964–1972).

36–35