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1917 - Pro Football Game
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Newspaper advertisement from November 1917 game. Gus was the quarterback for the professional Ft. Wayne Friars in 1916 & 1917. He also played with the Massillon Tigers in Ohio in 1915, 1916 & 1919.
1917 - Ft. Wayne Friars
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Dorais was the team captain and quarterback for the 1917 Ft. Wayne Friars professional football club.
1917 - Ft. Wayne Friars
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Team photo of the 1917 Ft. Wayne Friars professional football club. Dorais was quarterback and captain. He is standing in the center to the boys left.
1918 - Gus & Vi Wedding
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Article about the wedding of Gus & Vi Dorais.
Dorais served in the Army in 1918 during World War 1. He was assigned to Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas. He was soon put in charge of camp athletics including putting together the camp's football team. This headline indicates his camp team won the mythical Army football championship.
1919 UND Basketball Team
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In early 1919, Dorais was hired as head coach of Notre Dame's basketball and baseball teams and Rockne's assistant coach for football. Dorais was an unofficial co-Athletic Director, using the knowledge gained running the athletic program at Dubuque College. Here is his 1919 team.
1919 - Canton-Massillon
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Dorais played professionally for a few teams in the pre-NFL days. His biggest rival while leading the Massillon (Ohio) Tigers was the Canton (Ohio) Bulldogs and the legendary Jim Thorpe, who ended Dorais' career with a vicious tackle during the 1919 game advertised here.
1919 - UND Football Coach
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Dorais and Rockne led the 1919 Notre Dame football team to an undefeated championship season. Gus coached the backfield including the great George Gipp.
1919 - Massillon Tigers
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Dorais played professional football in the pre-NFL era. He played for the Ft. Wayne Friars 1916,1917 and the Massillon Tigers 1915,1916 & 1919. Dorais is at the far left of this 1919 Massillon Tigers team photo.
1919 - UND Football Coachs
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Dorais and Rockne led the 1919 Notre Dame football team to an undefeated championship season. Gus coached the backfield including the great George Gipp.
1919 - UND Football Team
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The 1919 Notre Dame team was the first of five undefeated Rockne-coached teams. Dorais (middle row, far right) would coach against several of his former players, including: Hunk Anderson (back row, second from left), Also pictured Dorais’ star backfield pupil, George Gipp (back row, third from left).
1919 - Canton-Massillon
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Canton Bulldogs vs. Massillon Tigers game November 16, 1919. The great Jim Thorpe, Rockne and Dorais can be seen in the action. During the game Thorpe ended Dorais' playing career with a vicious knee to the kidney.
1920 UND Basketball Team
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Dorais brought an innovative methodology to the hardwood. Instituting statistical analysis to practices, he kept track of all baskets and free throws, and gave points for teamwork, floor work, passing and dribbling. Numbers were posted at the end of each week. Notre Dame, 1920.
1920 - ND Baseball Team
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Dorais returned to Notre Dame in 1919, revitalizing a baseball program that had seen dwindling numbers in recent years. The Gold and Blue won the Western title that year over Big Ten Conference Champions, Michigan. Here is Dorais' 1920 squad.
1920 - Notre Dame Baseball Coach
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Dorais' last coaching duty at Notre Dame was the Spring 1920 Notre Dame baseball team. At the end of the school year he moved to Spokane, Wa and Gonzaga University to become the Athletic Director.
1920 - ND Baseball Team
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1920 University of Notre Dame baseball team. Coach Dorais far right.
1920 - Head Baseball Coach
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Dorais was head coach of the University of Notre Dame baseball team for two seasons 1919 & 1920. This picture is from the spring of 1920.
1921 Gonzaga Basketball Team
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‪Dorais' first team at Gonzaga University was this 1920-21 squad. He coached in Spokane for five seasons before leaving for the University of Detroit in 1925. ‬
1921 - Gonzaga Head Coach
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A press photo from the Spokane Review showing the new Gonzaga University Athletic Director.
1921 - Gonzaga Baseball
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Bing Crosby (third from right, number 17) played baseball and served in a few non-playing roles for the football team under Dorais (back row, far right).
1921 - Gonzaga Head Coach
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A signed picture of Gonzaga University head coach Gus Dorais. He is wearing his Notre Dame letter sweater.
1922 - Gonzaga Baseball Team
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1922 Gonzaga University varsity baseball team. Dorais is on the far right.
1922 - Gus, Vi and Tommy Dorais
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A young family in Spokane, Washington: Vi, Gus and Tom.
1923 - Gonzaga Baseball Team
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1923 Gonzaga University varsity baseball team. Dorais is in the last row, far right.
1923 - Gonzaga Football Lettermen
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1923 Gonzaga University varsity football team lettermen. Dorais is in the last row on the right.
1923 - Gonzaga Football Coaches
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1923 coaching staff of Gonzaga University football team. Dorais is second from left.
Dorais, far right, coached all the major sports at Gonzaga University. Here he is with the 1924 varsity track lettermen.
1924 - Gonzaga Coach Dorais
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Gus Dorais shown here in 1924 as University of Gonzaga Head Football Coach - The 1924 team would come to be considered the University’s best squad ever. Undefeated at 5-0-2, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 138-26 and tied the University of Idaho as Northwest Conference champions.
1924 - Gonzaga Athletic Director
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A wire photo from 1924 of Gonzaga University. Dorais was getting news coverage over rumors he was leaving Spokane for Detroit.
1924 - Gonzaga Coach Dorais
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Headshot of Gonzaga University coach Gus Dorais.
VIDEOS
1927 - University of Detroit football team beats South Dakota State in the final game of the season - 38-0.
1927 - University of Detroit football team training for the upcoming season at Camp Ozanam in Lexington, Michigan - north of Port Huron.
1928 - Gus Dorais puts his University of Detroit football team through drills in preperation for the upcoming 1928 season. The Titans would go on to have an undefeated season at 9-0. Parke Davis eventualy named the 1928 National Champions as a tie between Detroit and Georgia Tech.
1928 - University of Detroit beats Loyola at Dinan Field, 27 to 0. Captain Tom Connell makes the first touchdown for U of D. Malony breaks thru for a 60 yard run. Connell passes to Brazil for a 20 yard gain.
1928 - University of Detroit undefeated football team are guests of Delta Sigma Pi at annual football banquet.
1936 - Gus Dorais Interview regarding the development of the Forward Pass. Howard Jones - USC Head Coach - interviews Gus. Courtesy of University of Notre Dame Archives.
The 2013 college football season marks the 100th anniversary of Notre Dame's victory over Army - when Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne utilized the forward pass to upset the Cadets and establish Notre Dame as a national football power. The work that Dorais and Rockne did was commemorated by the University and Cedar Point in the summer of 2013. Dorais and Rockne's great grandsons reenact the scene on the beach.
2013 - Fighting Irish Digital Media investigates Dorais and Rockne and the storied 1913 season, the forward pass, Sorin Hall, ND Archives, Cedar Point and more.
"2018 Finalist Award from American Book Fest"
"... It is a story researched and told lovingly, one that helps provide immense context and understanding not just of Dorais' life and competitive fire but of Notre Dame's rise as a power and the foundation of American football itself. The game today, of course, is the forward pass. With his then-unique throwing style, Gus Dorais was the pioneer who pointed the way and thus defined the pass. His story is the game's story. With a timing that meant everything."
- Roland Lazenby - Most prolific sports author of our time - Latest book, Michael Jordan: The Life 2018
"This book tells the unknown story of one of football's early pioneers - Gus Dorais. From his humble beginnings, to his influence on the sport as a player, scout and coach, this well-researched and well written account of Dorais' life will fascinate readers. The combination of Joe Niese and Bob Dorais have told the story of a football lifer that is long overdue."
- Chris Willis, Head of Research Library, NFL Films
"As teammates at Notre Dame, Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne changed how the game of football was played. Great friends and coaching colleagues, they shared a passion for the game and what it could achieve as a means of molding young lives. They influenced so many under their tutelage, helping cement the best elements of football as a staple in American life and culture. It's an enduring legacy that has positive effects still felt today. Joe Niese and Bob Dorais have done a remarkable job of capturing the life and importance of Rock's cherished pal."
- Jim Lefebvre, Notre Dame football scholar & award-winning author: "Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne"
"Gus Dorais is an excellent biography about one of the legendary coaches of college football history who is unfortunately forgotten today for that aspect of his career. This important book belongs in every football historian's personal library."
- Ray Schmidt, Football Historian/President College Football Historical Society
"The book leaves no doubt that Dorais was an innovative coach in designing plays and offensive formations...The authors have done a splendid job of describing an era in football when it was undergoing significant change and following the life of a player and later a coach who was responsible for many of those changes."
- Michigan in Books
