Gus Dorais: Gridiron Innovator, All-American and Hall of Fame Coach

Charles “Gus” Dorais (1891–1954) is best known as the passing end of Notre Dame’s “Dorais to Rockne” tandem that helped revolutionize football’s forward pass in the early 1910s. A triple threat prep star from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Dorais was a captain and four-year starter at Notre Dame, becoming the school’s first consensus All-American in 1913. Over the next four decades, Dorais gained prominence as a professional player in the pre-NFL days and college football coach—most notably at the University of Detroit—before finishing as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. During his decades-long coaching career, he tallied more than 150 wins, becoming one of the football innovators in the first half of the 20th century. A pioneer of offensive strategies, Dorais played with and coached against all the prominent football legends of his time.