When John Huarte was a teenager growing up in California’s Orange County, he spent many hours working on his family’s citrus ranch. He’d run a truck from one section to another, checking on the irrigation system.

On fall Saturday mornings, the truck’s radio was tuned to pick up Notre Dame football. In far-away locations like South Bend, East Lansing, West Lafayette, Iowa City, Norman, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, the Fighting Irish were doing battle against the best in the land. With Paul Hornung, Nick Pietrosante, Monty Stickles, and Myron Pottios leading the way.

Already a star athlete at Anaheim’s Mater Dei High School, John could envision himself playing for the premiere Catholic institution in the nation. He headed east, and after freshman football in 1961, he joined the varsity in 1962, as a reserve quarterback behind starter Daryle Lamonica, and completed four of eight passes on the season.

As a junior in 1963, Huarte was part of a QB committee, completing 20 of 42 passes for 243 yards. On his only touchdown throw, to Jim Kelly in a 7-6 loss to Purdue, he injured his ankle, which didn’t help his bid for more playing time. 

In the 1963 season review, the Scholastic looked ahead to 1964 and opined: “Lack of a consistently good quarterback could again prevent Notre Dame from having a successful season. John Huarte, Dan McGinn, Sandy Bonvechio, Bill Zloch and Tom Longo all return, but none has significant game experience and none is a proven signal caller. Huarte is the best passer—any of the group could win the job.”

But that was before Hugh Devore was replaced as head coach by the dynamic 41-year-old Ara Parshegian, who had guided Northwestern the past eight seasons, winning 36 games, including four straight against Notre Dame. Parseghian sized up his roster, made a number of position changes, and told Huarte he would be his quarterback. And Jack Snow, Huarte’s fellow southern Californian who had made just 10 catches in two varsity seasons, would be his primary receiver.

A revitalized Irish squad opened the ’64 season at Madison, Wis., pounding Wisconsin—Big 10 champs just two seasons earlier—by a 31-7 count. The Huarte-to-Snow combination exploded for 217 yards, including touchdown tosses of 61 and 42 yards. The new-look Irish were on their way.

“John Huarte was a competitor,” says Phil Sheridan, ND”s 1965 captain. “He had a great passing ability and was savvy enough to pick up Ara’s play calling system. John was a reliable teammate in the clutch.” 

In the home opener vs. Purdue, Huarte out-dueled the Boilers’ Bob Griese, firing TD passes to Snow and Nick Rassas while his teammates picked off three Griese aerials. Alan Page returned a blocked punt 57 yards for a score as the Irish rolled, 34-15. At Air Force, Huarte scored two rushing TDs to go along with two through the air in a 34-7 win over the Falcons.

More one-sided wins followed. 24-0 over UCLA. 28-6 against Stanford. 40-0 vs. Navy. Then came a trip to Pittsburgh, where the 2-3-2 Panthers rose up to give the Irish a battle. From his own end zone, Huarte lofted a pass to Nick Eddy at the ND 35 and the speedy back took it the distance for a record-setting 91-yard scoring play. Snow’s punting continually kept Pitt bottled up in its own end, and the Irish survived with a 17-15 win.

Notre Dame then broke a 10-year losing streak to Michigan State, 34-7, with Huarte passing for a score. Later, on a 4th-and-1 from the Spartan 21, with everyone expecting a plunge up the middle, Huarte rolled right and dodged his way to the end zone. In a windy, icy home finale against Iowa, the Irish relied on rushing to grind down Iowa, 28-0.

Recalls teammate Kevin Hardy: “Ara was the mastermind and John made it work. It was a great honor for our sophomore group to start our careers with a gracious leader like John. Ara and John were critical to reviving the Notre Dame program.”

All that was left before a possible national championship in this unbelievable turnaround season was a trip to Southern Cal, which had lost to Michigan State, Ohio State and Washington. Huarte hit Snow with a 22-yard scoring strike, but ND was shut out in the second half and USC prevailed, 20-17, with the help of some controversial officials’ calls.

Huarte’s 10-game totals were remarkable: 114 completions in 205 attempts for 2,062 yards and 16 touchdowns, shattering the ND record for passing yards by more than 600 yards. Snow gathered in 60 of those passes for 1,114 yards and nine scores. Huarte was voted winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy, edging QB Jerry Rhome of Tulsa, with Illinois lineman Dick Butkus third.

Noted the Scholastic: “Huarte’s story is perhaps the most remarkable of any Heisman winner’s. Never had the winner been so unheralded before the season began, never had a non-monogram holder won the award. John Huarte came from nowhere, from 45 minutes’ playing time, to become the winner of the nation’s most coveted collegiate laurel. His accomplishment symbolized the rags-to-riches rise of the entire Notre Dame team.” 

In 2005, John’s feats were recognized with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

After an eight-year NFL career, Huarte returned to southern California and in 1977, he decided to focus his leadership and team-building skills on a new business endeavor. He took a leap and signed a lease on the back of a cardboard box, opening the first Arizona Tile location in San Diego, Calif.

Today, with about 1,000 employees, nearly half of which have been with the company for over a decade, and many who have been with the company since the beginning, unparalleled customer service, and products from around the world, Arizona Tile has become one of the leading tile and slab distributors in the U.S.

Family life is important to John and his wife Eileen, who have been blessed with five children and 14 grandchildren. John is also involved with several philanthropic organizations. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Trustees for St. John’s Health Foundation in Santa Monica, Calif.