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.