Theodore George Karras Jr. (born December 10, 1964) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Marian University in Indianapolis, a position he first held from the program's inception in 2007 through the 2012 season and resumed in 2023. Karras was the head football coach at

Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) is a private university in Terre Haute, Indiana. Founded in 1874 in Terre Haute, Rose-Hulman is one of the United States' few undergraduate focused engineering and technology universities. Though it st ...

in Terre Haute, Indiana from 2003 to 2005 and

Walsh University Walsh University is a private Roman Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio. It enrolls approximately 2,700 students and was founded in 1960 by the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a liberal arts college. Walsh College became Walsh Univ ...

North Canton, Ohio North Canton is a city in central Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 17,842 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area. History In 1831, the Community of North Canton first began as the Villag ...

from 2013 to 2016. He led the 2012 Marian Knights football team to the

NAIA Football National Championship The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best NAIA college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the National Associ ...

title. Karras played college football as a defensive tackle at Northwestern from 1983 to 1986 and played one game as a replacement player with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) during 1987 players' strike that inspired the movie ''The Replacements''. His father, Ted Karras Sr., played for the Chicago Bears in the 1960s. His uncles also played in the NFL: Alex Karras for the Detroit Lions and

Lou Karras Louis George Karras (September 19, 1927 – September 20, 2018) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, until an eye injury prematurely ended his career. He played college foot ...

for the Washington Redskins. His son, Ted Karras III, is currently in the NFL as the starting center for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Coaching career

Karras was a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in 1991 and at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in 1992. He then worked as a defensive assistant at

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts i ...

from 1993 to 1994 and as a defensive line coach at the University of St. Francis in 1995. In 1996, Karras became the head football coach for

Andrean High School Andrean High School is a co-educational, college preparatory secondary school in Merrillville, Indiana. It is located in the Diocese of Gary. The school was founded in 1959, and named for St. Andrew, the patron saint of the first bishop of the di ...

Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

, and took his team to the state championship, where they lost to

Bishop Chatard High School Bishop Chatard High School is a Catholic co-educational preparatory high school located in the Broad Ripple district of Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. It is named after Bishop Silas Chatard, who was the first Bishop of Indianapolis, ...

of Indianapolis. In 1999, Karras moved on to

Saint Xavier University Saint Xavier University (or SXU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university enrolls 3,749 students. History Saint Xavier University was founded as a women's college by ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as offensive coordinator. After four years at Saint Xavier, Karras moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to become head football coach at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. In 2006, Karras took the job of coaching the inaugural football team at Marian University. In the football program's sixth year of play in 2012, Karras led the Knights to the

2012 NAIA Football National Championship The 2012 NAIA Football National Championship was played on December 13, 2012 as the 57th Annual Russell Athletic NAIA Football National Championship. The game matched the once-beaten and 5th-ranked Knights from Marian University against the unde ...

, where they won 30–27 in overtime. After the 2012 football season, Karras left Marian to become the second head football coach in

's school history, replacing Jim Dennison. Walsh, located in

, formally introduced Karras as the Cavaliers' new head coach on December 21, 2012. At the end of the 2016 season, in which the Cavaliers compiled a 1–10 record, the worst in program history, Walsh University announced that Karras would no longer be coaching the team. On December 22, 2022, Karras returned to Marian as head football coach for the 2023 season.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Marian profile

Saint Francis profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karras, Ted Jr. 1964 births Living people American football defensive tackles Lake Forest Foresters football coaches Marian Knights football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Northern Illinois Huskies football coaches Northwestern Wildcats football players Rose–Hulman Fightin' Engineers football coaches Saint Francis Cougars football coaches Saint Xavier Cougars football coaches St. Francis Fighting Saints football coaches Walsh Cavaliers football coaches Washington Redskins players High school football coaches in Indiana People from Merrillville, Indiana Players of American football from Lake County, Indiana Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Coaches of American football from Indiana Players of American football from Gary, Indiana Karras football family