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"Coach Mac" to be Honored as 2003 Man of the Year
10/22/2003 1:29:40 PM | Football
Proceeds from the accompanying raffle of Super Bowl tickets and other gifts will support the treatment of children and adolescents at the Joslin Diabetes Centers in Boston and Syracuse. These renowned facilities treat more than 2,600 young patients annually. Coach MacPherson and his family have been active and enthusiastic supporters of the Joslin Centers’ work on behalf of kids for many years.
“We are thrilled that Coach Mac will be on hand with us this year, and we expect a great crowd,” said Tom Yewcic, dinner chairman and quarterback and punter for the original Boston Patriots. “He has so many friends and admirers, here in the Boston area, in Syracuse, in Western Massachusetts where he coached and went to school, in Maine where he comes from and where he still spends his summers, and everywhere that the game of football is played.”
A Distinguished Career of Sporting Achievement and Service to Others
Richard F. MacPherson was born in Old Town, Maine in 1930. He attended Maine Maritime Academy for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1950. After four years in the service, he enrolled at Springfield College, where he starred in football as a center for three years, including the school’s undefeated 1956 season. He also served as team captain, carrying on in the tradition of the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg and James A. Naismith.
After graduating from Springfield in 1958, MacPherson began his coaching career at the University of Illinois while attending graduate school. He then went to the University of Massachusetts where he coached freshman football and wrestling and taught physical education.
In 1961, MacPherson moved to the University of Cincinnati, where he spent five years as assistant coach of the Bearcats. He then served a year as defensive backfield coach under Lou Saban at Maryland before moving with Lou to the professional ranks. He coached linebackers and defensive backs for the Denver Broncos from 1967 to l970.
In 1971, MacPherson returned to the University of Massachusetts as head coach. In seven seasons at Amherst, he led the team to a 45-27-1 record that included four Yankee Conference championships and a 35-14 win over UCal-Davis in the 1972 Boardwalk Bowl. He was twice chosen New England Coach of the Year while at UMass.
From 1978 through 1980, MacPherson was back in the pro ranks as linebacker coach for the Cleveland Browns. After the 1980 NFL playoffs he was tapped for the head coaching post at Syracuse University. His Orangemen’s 17-9 upset of top-ranked Nebraska in 1984 vaulted Syracuse back to prominence on the national scene.
At Syracuse MacPherson compiled a record of 66-46-1 that included 3-1-1 in post-season bowls. He was selected as National College Coach of the Year for 1987 when Syracuse went 11-0 and was tied 16-16 by Auburn on a last-second field goal in the Sugar Bowl. His teams subsequently defeated LSU in the Hall of Fame Bowl, Georgia in the Peach Bowl, and Arizona in the Aloha Bowl.
MacPherson capped off his coaching career with a final stint in professional ball, serving as head coach of the New England Patriots for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. He was inducted into the State of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, the Springfield College Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame in 1996. He has received honorary degrees from Maine Maritime, Springfield, and the University of New England. He has also served as a trustee of the latter two institutions.
MacPherson and his wife Sandra have two daughters, Janet and Maureen, and four grandchildren. They make their homes in Syracuse, Maine, and Florida.
About the Gridiron Club Man of the Year: Each autumn the Gridiron Club proudly honors a distinguished citizen of the football community as its Man of the Year and raises funds for one or more charities chosen by the honoree. Previous Men of the Year have been: Gino Cappelletti, Mike Holovak, Nick Buoniconti, Ron Burton, and Tom Yewcic. Charities supported include the Ron Burton Training Center, Italian Home for Children, the Miami Project to Help Cure Paralysis, the Massachusetts State Hospital School for Children, United Cerebral Palsy, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Center.
About the Gridiron Club: Founded in 1932, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston promotes the game of football at all levels and nurtures the ideals of citizenship, sportsmanship, leadership, and athletic and academic achievement. Through its annual dinners and golf tournament, the club carries on its tradition of honoring exemplary players, coaches and officials at all levels of the sport, and supporting worthy charitable causes, especially those that assist children.
The Gridiron Club is steward of some of the most storied awards in American sport. The George H. “Bulger” Lowe Award, established in 1939 and awarded to New England’s best college football player, is the country’s second oldest accolade of its kind after the Heisman Trophy. The Nils V. “Swede” Nelson Award, inaugurated by the club in 1946, recognizes college football players who also distinguish themselves in the classroom. In 1977, the club assumed stewardship of the Walter Brown Award, the nation’s oldest college hockey honor, which is given to the best American-born college player in New England.
