Ara Parseghian

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. ”

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

It's not true that I never left South Bend to recruit a player. It is true that I didn't leave very often. ”

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

I've been blessed in many ways, but none of the heights from football can ever compare to the depths you go through when you lose a child. ”

There is nothing more painful than watching a child with a terminal disease. ”

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 game is not won by a pep talk on Saturday. It's won by preparation of your club from Monday until game time. If they're not ready on Saturday, you're not going to get them ready by trying to inspire them with a dog-eat-dog sermon on that day. ”

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 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. ”