Terry Hanratty figured he was signed, sealed and delivered to Michigan State University.

A lunch with a legend changed all of that.

“I was pretty much committed to go to Michigan State. I loved Duffy Daugherty as a coach. He was one of the best,” said Hanratty, 69, a 1965 Butler graduate and former Golden Tornado quarterback.

“At the last minute, (Notre Dame coach) Ara Parseghian called and asked me to have lunch with him. We ate at the Pittsburgh Hilton. I remember there was a steak sandwich on the menu for $3.25. I didn't want Coach Parseghian to think I was gouging him.

“I settled for the club sandwich for a buck fifty. And at the end of that lunch, I was going to Notre Dame,” Hanratty added.

Parseghian died Wednesday at age 94.

“There was this charisma about him,” Hanratty said. “That's what sold me. He walks into a room and that room lights up. He didn't have to say a word. He was that kind of man.”

Hanratty was the starting quarterback as a sophomore for the Fighting Irish in 1966 under Parseghian, leading Notre Dame to an undefeated season and the national championship.

“We had a great offensive line, solid running backs and a strong defense that year,” Hanratty said. “The only areas we were inexperienced were at quarterback and receiver.

“You'd think we'd pound it with that running game and wear teams out with our defense. What's Coach Parseghian do? He says we're gonna throw the ball. He put that much faith in a couple of 18-year-olds in myself and Jimmy Seymour. He had the confidence in us and he was a man of conviction.”

Seymour caught 48 passes, eight for touchdowns, that season. Hanratty went on to become a Heisman Trophy candidate and, of course, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“He (Parseghian) saw the way we performed in practice and said we could do it in the games. I'll never forget that,” Hanratty said. “He made us believe we were good enough.

“We threw the ball 20 or 22 times per game. No college team did that back then. Teams were three yards and a cloud of dust.”

Notre Dame's lone blemish in that 1966 season was a 10-10 tie at Michigan State.

“Critics always say Ara went for the tie that day,” Hanratty said. “I got knocked out of that game in the first quarter. Our top running back was out, our starting center was out ... We were banged up.

“I loved Duffy Daugherty, but he punted from the 50 with a minute to go, playing at home. Who was going for the tie? We got the ball on our 18 and weren't about to lose a fumble or throw a pick to lose that game. We knew we were playing USC the next week for the national championship.”

The Irish won that game, 51-0.

“No bowl games back then,” Hanratty said. They vote for the national championship at the end of the season and we got it.”

Hanratty and Parseghian never lost contact. They got together for lunch a few times each year. They were supposed to meet for lunch June 21 of this year, but Parseghian contracted mersa and was in the hospital.

“He always spent half the year in Florida, half the year in South Bend,” Hanratty said of Parseghian's later years. “He was always in South Bend during football season.

“Whenever I would stay the week (in South Bend) for back to back home games, I'd join Coach and a few other guys for lunch. He moved back to South Bend for good a couple of years ago.”

During his football career, Hanratty played for Art Bernardi at Butler, Parseghian at Notre Dame and Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh.

“All three of those guys are in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “I was truly fortunate to play for coaches of that caliber.

“All three relied on strong defenses, big, strong offensive lines, and never put too much emphasis on the run or the pass offensively. They knew how to win.

“And those guys were winners,” Hanratty added.