tkarras@marian.edu	317.955.6772

In his fourth season, Marian University head football coach Ted Karras Jr. has created a program from scratch and guided the team to back-to-back winning seasons in the program's third year of existence.

Karras, alongside assistant coach Martin Mathis, created a program with just 48 student-athletes and no practice facility. Now, the program's evolution is complete. Through three years, Coach Karras has amassed a 14-18 record, including a 1-9 first season, and is 13-9 over the last two years.

During the inaugural season of Marian University football, Karras led the Knights to their first-ever victory after many said the first season would yield no fruits of victory. He also quickly created a football program from scratch by recruiting more than 125 student-athletes for the inaugural season.

The inaugural season yielded the team's first-ever victory, a MSFA All-Mideast second team selection, an MSFA All-Academic team selection, and four MSFA All-Mideast honorable mentions. The Knights finished 1-9 in their first-ever season, but that victory was monumental for a startup program.

The second season of Knights football was proof that the program had grown as Karras guided the Knights to their first-ever winning season at 7-4. The team won three straight during the season and earned votes in the NAIA Top 25 for the first time. They also defeated No. 25-ranked McKendree, 28-21, on the road for their first-ever road win and their first-ever win over a ranked opponent.

Last season, the Knights finished the year with a 6-5 mark and gave Coach Karras his second winning season in as many years. The Knights defeated the University of St. Francis (Ill.) on a last-second field goal to earn their first-ever season-opening win. They also opened a new stadium, St.Vincent Health Field, with a 34-16 win over Grand View, which finished the season ranked in the top 25. The season culminated with the program's first-ever AFCA-NAIA All-America selection in the graduated Chris White.

A northwest Indiana native, Karras came to Marian University after three seasons defying the odds at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. While with the Fighting Engineers, Karras led RHIT out of the doldrums of perennial two- and three-win seasons. Under his tutelage, the Fighting Engineer program was revitalized with shocking victories over DePauw University, Washington University, and the program's first victory at Rhodes College in Memphis since 1971. He posted a pair of .500 (5-5) records in his first season, the first since 1995, and final season at the helm.

During his time at RHIT, his players excelled in both football and academics. He had two Academic All-Americans, 13 All-Conference performers, and the first All-American defensive lineman in school history. He also coached the SCAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. While the defensive side saw success, the offense was not to be outdone. He coached RHIT's first conference rushing champion since 1995 and was cited as having the nation's "best performance by a rookie coach" by d3football.com in 2003. Karras went 14-16 with RHIT, the best three-year record of any coach, and was named one of the "10 hottest coaches in division III" by American Football Monthly.

For four years prior to RHIT, Karras was the offensive coordinator at MSFA foe, St. Xavier University. Coach Karras was part of an MSFA Midwest League championship and NAIA playoff-qualifier in 2002. His players established nine single-season and two single-game records during his tenure, including total yards, number of plays, all-purpose yards, rushing yards, attempts, touchdowns, first downs, and rushing first downs.

Prior to SXU, Karras served as the head coach at Andrean High School in Gary, Indiana, from 1996-98.

Karras successfully rebuilt a program that had never won a regional championship. During his tenure, AHS won three sectional and two regional championships and earned a berth in the state championship game.

Coach Karras amassed a 30-10 overall record at Andrean High School and was named the Indiana Football Coaches' Association Regional Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998.

He also served as defensive line coach at St. Francis College (Ilinois) from 1995-96 and defensive coordinator at Lake Forest College (Illinois) from 1993-95. Karras also served as a defensive line graduate assistant at Northern Illinois University in 1992-93 and as a graduate assistant at the University of Minnesota from 1991-92. His coaching experience began as a defensive line coach for Kankakee Valley High School in 1989.

Karras was a four-year starter at Northwestern University from 1983-87 and earned his bachelor of science from Northwestern in 1987. His playing career continued as he signed with the Washington Redskins as a free agent and spent one season with the Redskins.

Coach Karras' bloodline is football-rich; his father, Ted Sr., played for the George Halas-led Chicago Bears from 1960-64. His uncle, Alex Karras, spent 13 seasons with the Detroit Lions (1958-71) and earned All-Big Ten honors at the University of Iowa.

Coach Karras is married to Jennifer, and the couple has two children. The family resides in Indianapolis.