IU's new football coach has rich history in sport

Alex Hickey
Indiana Daily Student
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Published Thursday, August 29, 2002

This Saturday, Gerry DiNardo will take the field in his first game as coach of the IU football team. While he's not likely to drive the team into Memorial Stadium on a double-decker bus a la Lee Corso, DiNardo's road to Bloomington has been a wild one. He's seen Heaven, Notre Dame football, and the other place, Vince McMahon's folly, the XFL. Now he's here in Bloomington trying to lead the Hoosiers from football purgatory.

In the beginning

The road begins in Brooklyn, New York. Four years after the Dodgers pulled out of town, nine-year-old Gerry DiNardo discovered what he would be forever attached to organized football. Like countless numbers of kids, he got his first experience playing in a Pop Warner league.

DiNardo's love for the game carried over into high school, where his play stood out enough to capture the eyes of a man who knew how to assess talent -- legendary Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian.

Parseghian had already scooped up DiNardo's older brother, Larry, who was an All-American offensive lineman in 1969 and '70.

DiNardo followed suit, starting at right guard from '72 to '74 and winning the National Championship in 1973. He was named an All-American his senior year.

"I really enjoyed Ara," DiNardo said. "(Playing for) Notre Dame was a special experience for me, and a lot of the reason was because of him."

Fittingly enough, DiNardo's last game was also Parseghian's last -- a 13-11 Orange Bowl victory over Bear Bryant and Alabama.

DiNardo and Parseghian still correspond regularly. Parseghian wished his prot