The 1973 Notre Dame football team was Ara Parseghian’s tenth Fighting Irish squad and, coming off an 8-3 season and a 40-6 Orange Bowl thrashing at the hands of Nebraska, felt it had something to prove.

A maximum effort by all players and coaches would be needed to regain the level of excellence achieved by prior Parseghian teams, including the 1966 national champions.

A key member of the offensive effort was junior quarterback Tom Clements, in his second season as the Irish starter.

Clements, from McKees Rocks in football-crazed western Pennsylvania, took over as Notre Dame starting quarterback as a sophomore in 1972, when he completed 83 of 162 pass attempts for 1,163 yards and 8 touchdowns.

He was known for having a good arm and quick rushing skills. His greatest asset? “He was tough and could execute exactly what Ara wanted on the field, which was not an easy thing to do,” said captain Frank Pomarico.

The ’73 Irish averaged 35.8 points and 461.4 yards per game, both astounding totals for the time, en route to an 11-0-0 record and the national championship. The regular season was bookended by 44-0 victories over Northwestern and Miami. The closest call was a 14-10 win over Michigan State, and a mid-season, 23-14 victory over USC proved pivotal.

Leading the Irish in 1973, Clements was more in sync with Parseghian than ever, guiding a bevy of backs that rolled up 3,502 yards rushing – led by Wayne Bullock (750 yards) and Art Best (700) and including Eric Penick (586) and Clements himself (360).

Clements only attempted about 10 passes per game, completing 60 of 113 for 882 yards and 8 TDs. He was accurate when he needed to be,  never more so than in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, facing a 3^rd-and-9 from deep in Irish territory against Alabama. He hit tight end Robin Weber with a 36-yard completion to seal a 24-23 victory, giving Notre Dame the national championship.

In his senior year, and Parseghian’s last season guiding the Irish, Clements was called upon to pass much more, flinging 215 aerials, completing 122 for 1,549 yards and another 8 scores. He received some All-American recognition.

He then went on to a stellar 12-year career in the Canadian Football League, winning rookie of the years honors and leading the Ottawa Rough Riders to the 1976 Grey Cup championship, a feat he repeated in 1984 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was the Grey Cup MVP both years, as well as CFL Most Outstanding Player in 1987 and a seven-time CFL all-star. And while still a CFL star, he earned a law degree from Notre Dame in 1986.

Clements returned to Notre Dame to start his coaching career, guiding the Irish quarterbacks under Lou Holtz in 1992-95. He then moved to the NFL ranks, coaching for New Orleans, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Buffalo before becoming Green Bay’s quarterback coach in 2006. He mentored Aaron Rodgers when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV over Oakland on Feb. 6, 2011.

Green Bay elevated Clements to offensive coordinator for the 2012 season and he became Packers assistant head coach in 2015. After a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals, he returned to Green Bay for three more seasons as quarterback coach (2022-24), working again with Rodgers and then new QB Jordan Love before retiring in 2025.

Throughout his career, Tom Clements set a high standard for football leadership.