- Served as freshman football coach at Miami of Ohio (1950); head football coach at Miami of Ohio (1951-55), Northwestern University (1956-63), and Notre Dame (1964-74). Resigned after the 1974 season due to health reasons and left coaching after compiling a 170-58-6 lifetime record, including a 95-17-4 record at Notre Dame.
- Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980.
- Named an honorary Notre Dame alumnus in 1974.
- Named College Coach of the Year in 1964.
- Served as a color commentator for ABC Sports from 1975-81 and for CBS Sports from 1982-88.
- Contacted Father Edmund P. Joyce about the head coaching position at Notre Dame, knowing that it was open. Signed a contract after an initial disagreement with Father Joyce resulted in his walking out of a press conference for what would have been an announcement of his hiring.
- Coached the Northwestern Wildcats to four straight victories over Notre Dame between 1959-62. Had a 9-0 record against Northwestern while coaching at Notre Dame.
- Is of Armenian descent.
- Made his last coaching appearance with the College All-Stars in the 1976 game against the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Chicago. The game was halted in the second half when a violent rainstorm broke out and was never resumed. It was the last such game ever played.
- Took a Notre Dame team that had finished 2-7 in 1963 and, with virtually the same personnel, finished 9-1 in 1964, coming to within 1:33 of an undefeated season and a national championship.
- Inducted into the Greater Akron [OH] Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
- Inducted into the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame in 1988 (inaugural class).
- Inducted into the Miami University (OH) Athletics Hall of Fame in 1969 (inaugural class).
- Played with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference, 1948-1949.
- Selected in the 13th round of the 1947 Draft (109th overall): by the Pittsburgh Steelers; selected in the 25th round of the 1948 AAFC Draft (177th overall) by the Cleveland Browns.
- Coached Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973; his 1964 squad was also awarded the MacArthur Bowl.
- Inducted into the Summit County [Pennsylvania] Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.
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