Bill McCartney, who coached Colorado to its only football championship in 1990, has died. He was 84 years old.
McCartney died Friday night “after a courageous journey through dementia,” according to a family statement. His family announced in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“Coach Mac touched many lives with his unwavering faith, unwavering compassion, and his enduring legacy as a leader, mentor and advocate for family, community and faith,” the family said in a statement. “As a leader and visionary, his impact was felt both on and off the field, and his spirit will live on in the hearts of those who inspired him forever.”
McCartney remains the winningest coach in Colorado history, with a record of 93-55-5. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Coach Mac,” said Colorado athletic director Rick George, who became a lifelong friend of McCartney after hiring George as his recruiting coordinator in 1987. “Coach Mac was an amazing man who taught me the importance of faith, family and being a good husband, father and grandfather. He instilled discipline and accountability in all of us who worked and played under his leadership.
McCartney led Colorado to its best season in 1990, when the team finished 11-1-1 and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl to win the national title. That season included a win at Missouri in which the Buffaloes kicked the game-winning field goal “for the fifth time” as time expired – one of the biggest blunders in college football history.
The chain workers did not turn the tag from second to third down and the officials failed to notice. On fourth down — the fifth actually — Charles Johnson scored to keep Colorado’s national title hopes alive. Asked later if he would consider abandoning the game, McCartney pointed to the poor pitch conditions and didn’t think it was a fair test.
McCartney coached in Colorado from 1982-94, retiring early to spend more time with his wife, Lyndi, who died in 2013. After retirement, he worked full-time at Promise Keepers, a ministry he started in 1990 after converting to Catholicism and whose mission is to encourage “God-fearing people.”
As a football coach, McCartney’s impact at Colorado was immense. During a six-year period in the late ’80s and early ’90s, his teams were up there with the powers that be. McCartney coached Colorado to three Big Eight titles, 10 consecutive league championship wins and a 58-29-4 mark in conference play, all still school records.
His 1989 team went 11-1 and lost to Notre Dame 21-6 in the Orange Bowl. That laid the foundation for a national championship team that featured linebackers Darian Hagan and Charles Johnson, cornerback Eric Bieniemy, and a stout defense that included Alfred Williams, Greg Biekert, Chad Brown and Kanavis McGhee.
To think, McCartney almost chose a career as a basketball coach.
Born in Riverview, Michigan, McCartney played center and linebacker at the University of Missouri, where he met his wife. He later coached high school basketball and football in Dearborn, Michigan. His teams were good as well, each capturing a state title in 1973.
He caught the eye of Michigan football coach Bo Schemchler, who wanted McCartney to join his staff at Michigan. If that wasn’t enough, Michigan basketball coach Johnny Orr urged him to join his staff.
McCartney couldn’t decide. His wife gave him simple advice – follow his heart.
He entered the world of college football.
McCartney studied under Schembechler for eight seasons, until the opportunity to coach his own team arose. When the late Chuck Fairbanks left Colorado to join the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League, McCartney asked Schembechler if the Hall of Fame coach would put in a good word for him.
Schembechler’s support carried a lot of weight, and then-Colorado athletic director Eddie Crowder offered McCartney the position.
It was a rough start for McCartney with just seven wins in his first three seasons, including a 1-10 finish in 1984. Then things started to change.
His last season with the Buffaloes was in 1994, when the team went 11-1 behind a play that included Kordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook and the late Rashaan Salaam. That season featured the “Miracle at Michigan,” when Westbrook hauled in a 64-yard TD pass from Stewart on a Hail Mary as time expired in a Michigan win. Salaam also ran for 2,055 yards and won the Heisman Trophy.
McCartney also trained the next wave of coaches, assistant coaches such as Gary Barnett, Jim Caldwell, Ron Dickerson, Gerry DiNardo, Karl Dorrell, Jon Embree, Les Miles, Rick Neuheisel, Bob Simmons, Lou Tepper, Ron Vanderlinden and John Wristen.
In recent years, McCartney got to watch grandson Derek play defensive line in Colorado. Derek’s father, Shannon Clavelle, was a defensive lineman for Colorado from 1992-94 before playing a few seasons in the NFL. Derek’s brother, TC McCartney, was a linebacker at LSU and is the son of the late Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese, who played for Bill McCartney in 1987 and ’88 before being diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1989 and dying six months later at the age of -21.
When he was growing up, Derek McCartney used to go to his neighbor’s house to listen to his stories. He was not tired of them.
Derek focuses on stories about Salaam winning the Heisman Trophy and how Colorado beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl to clinch the national title. His grandfather had a picture of a famous game in Michigan and a button to press to hear the broadcast.
When he played for Colorado, not a day went by when someone didn’t ask Derek if he was somehow related to the coach.
“I like it when that happens,” Derek said.
It is reported by the Associated Press.
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