Gus Dorais

Gus Dorais
Sport(s)	Football, basketball, baseball
Biographical details
Born	July 2, 1891(1891-07-02) Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Died	January 3, 1954(1954-01-03) (aged 62) Birmingham, Michigan
Playing career
Football 1910–1913 1915–1916 1918–1919	Notre Dame Fort Wayne Friars Massillon Tigers
Position(s)	Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football 1914–1917 1919 1920–1924 1925–1942 1943–1947 1952 Basketball 1918–1920 1920–1926 1925–1928 Baseball 1919–1920 1921–1925	Columbia (IA) Notre Dame (assistant) Gonzaga Detroit Detroit Lions Pittsburgh Steelers (backfield) Notre Dame Gonzaga Detroit Notre Dame Gonzaga
Head coaching record
Overall	150–70–12 (college football) 20–31–2 (NFL) 93–113 (basketball) 41–31–1 (baseball)
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Awards All-American, 1913
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1954 (profile)

Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais (July 2, 1891 – January 3, 1954) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913, and then professionally with the Fort Wayne Friars and Massillon Tigers. Dorais served as the head football coach at Columbia College in Dubuque, Iowa, now known as Loras College (1914–1917), Gonzaga University (1920–1924), and the University of Detroit, now known as the University of Detroit Mercy (1925–1942), compiling a career college football coaching record of 150–70–12. He was also the head coach of the NFL's Detroit Lions from 1943 to 1947, tallying a mark of 20–31–2. In addition, he was the head basketball coach at Notre Dame, Detroit Mercy, and Gonzaga and the head baseball coach at Notre Dame and Gonzaga. Dorais was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954.

Playing career

Dorais, who arrived at the University of Notre Dame from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in the summer of 1910, started four seasons for the Fighting Irish at quarterback, but it was during his senior season that he became part of college football history. During the summer of 1913, Dorais and his Notre Dame teammate Knute Rockne worked as lifeguards and busboys at Cedar Point Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. During their free time there, the story goes, the duo practiced passing on the beach with Dorais throwing to Rockne, an end.^{[citation needed]}

"We mastered the technique of losing the football with hands relaxed and tried to master the more difficult feat of catching it with one hand," Rockne later wrote.^{[citation needed]}

The Irish, 17–1–3 in Dorais' first three seasons as a starter, outscored their first three opponents in 1913 by a margin of 169–7. On November 1, 1913, the Irish, still known mainly in the Midwest at the time despite just one loss in three seasons, traveled to West Point, New York with a roster size of only eighteen players to face heavily-favored Army. Although Dorais and Rockne are often credited with inventing the forward pass that day against the Cadets, the maneuver had been legal since 1906, and had been used by several lower-profile programs. In 1952, Dorais himself tried to set the record straight, telling the United Press that "Eddie Cochems of the St. Louis University team of 1906-07-08 deserves the full credit."

Dorais first completed a pass to Rockne two seasons before. But against Army in 1913, Dorais, an Irish co-captain and the first Irish player named a consensus All-American, completed 14 of 17 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns. At the time, his 40-yard pass to Rockne was the longest pass ever completed, and after taking a 14–13 halftime lead, Notre Dame pulled away from a confused Army team for a 35–13 victory that changed the landscape of college football and lifted the Irish out of obscurity.

From that point forward, no longer was the forward pass an obscure weapon, or a little-used gimmick to be used when trailing late in games. "The press and the football public hailed this new game, and Notre Dame received credit as the originator of a style of play that we simply systematized," Rockne said.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to playing quarterback, Dorais was also the team's placekicker.

Coaching career

Dorais and Rockne were roommates at Notre Dame, and in their coaching days, Dorais served as an assistant under Rockne. Dorais served as head coach at Columbia College from 1914 to 1917, assistant at Notre Dame 1919, head coach at Gonzaga University from 1920 to 1924, and head coach at the University of Detroit Mercy from 1925 to 1942. His record at Detroit was 113–48–7. nick also helped coach and was the defensive coordinator. In high school was an all state linebacker

Dorais was the college team coach for the 1937 College All-Star Game, in which college seniors played against the NFL championship team. With Sammy Baugh at quarterback, this was the first All-Star team to beat the pros. From 1943 to 1947, Dorais coached the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He retired after his tenure with the Lions but came out of retirement for one season in 1952 to serve as the backfield coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers under head coach Joe Bach.

External links

• Gus Dorais at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Gus Dorais at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Gus Dorais at Pro-Football-Reference.com
• Gus Dorais at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com