Coach Mac Gets Hall Call
4/30/2009 12:14:08 PM | Football
Former Syracuse head football coach Dick MacPherson is among the latest inductees into the National Football Foundations College Football Hall of Fame. The announcement was made Thursday, April 30, in New York City.
MacPherson's Syracuse Biography
To see the Syracuse sideline after an SU score during the tenure of Coach Richard F. “Dick” MacPherson was to see a hurricane. If it was a long touchdown play, there's a good chance “Coach Mac” coaxed his player by running step-for-step for part of the path to paydirt. There'd be a full complement of flaying arms, hoots and hollers, papers and clipboards flying, and a hop or two from the man whose heart pumped nothing but Orange blood starting in 1981. Man hugging? There was almost as much tackling around the Syracuse bench after a TD as there was on the field when MacPherson was calling the shots.
There are folks with unique characteristics and then there's Coach Mac. He's a genuine, limited-edition human being (only one ever made), whose patented fist pumps, pats on the back and New England accent are being welcomed into the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame.
MacPherson's Hall selection puts him in an exclusive group of college football's finest coaches. He'll join an elite membership which already includes former Syracuse mentors Frank “Buck” O'Neil, Howard Jones, Tad Jones, Clarence “Biggie” Munn, Vic Hanson (enshrined as a player), and Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder.
Rare is the time that the coach scrambles for the right words but this prestigious honor has even the outgoing MacPherson calling a timeout.
“This has really shocked me into so many wonderful memories,” noted MacPherson. “The more I look back the more I'm convinced how special a place Syracuse really is. Syracuse is a big part of this. Chancellor (Melvin) Eggers (Syracuse chancellor from 1971-to-1991), Jake Crouthamel (director of athletics at the time), who hired me at Syracuse, and all the coaches and players from that time are all wrapped into this.”
MacPherson won't enter the hall quietly – not because of self-promotion but because his career has intertwined with so many of the coaches already enshrined. If a banquet were arranged for all those already in the Hall of Fame, the dinner hour would certainly be delayed while waiting for Coach Mac to shake hands with all he knew.
Even though MacPherson completed his coaching career with the New England Patriots, away from the Central New York program he helped resurrect, he never really left “Orangeland” after first taking charge in 1981. When MacPherson was lured back to the NFL as the Patriots head coach in 1991, he was replaced by a member of his SU staff, Paul Pasqualoni. Following MacPherson's retirement from the NFL, he came back to Syracuse as an analyst on the SU Radio Network. He made frequent stops at Pasqualoni's practice sessions and often addressed the team. The practice continued during Greg Robinson's tenure at Syracuse.
Doug Marrone, a former offensive lineman for MacPherson, returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2009. Marrone drew heavily on his SU experience during the interview process and has implemented many of the same things that were in place when he played college football. One of his first orders of business was to invite MacPherson to talk to the team and re-initiate a “burning of the shoe” ritual that had been a staple of the SU program.
MacPherson took over a Syracuse program that had posted only three winning campaigns in the 10 previous seasons. There were growing pains during 4-6-1 and 2-9 campaigns. The hard work began paying off in 1983 when the Orange finished the season by defeating #13/12 Boston College, 21-10, and #14/15 West Virginia, 27-16. The following year the Orange stunned then- #1/1 Nebraska, 17-9 in the Carrier Dome.
In 1985 the program began a run of five bowl-game appearances in six seasons under MacPherson. The 1987 campaign turned into one of the finest in program history. MacPherson guided the Orange through an unbeaten, 11-0 regular season, which was capped by a two-point conversion that beat West Virginia, 32-31, in the last game. It earned the #4/4 Orange a Sugar Bowl berth against #6/6 Auburn. The Tigers used a last-minute field goal to earn a 16-16 tie with Syracuse.
MacPherson guided the Orange to a 19-18 Peach Bowl triumph in 1989 and an Aloha Bowl win against Arizona, 28-0, in his final season as Syracuse head coach. He finished with a 66-46-4 record (.586) with the Orange.
He will join two of his former players in the National Football Foundations College Hall of Fame. Tim Green was inducted in 2001 and Don McPherson earned enshrinement in 2008.
MacPherson's climb to the head coaching position was a winding staircase with a lot of steps. He embarked on a coaching career in 1958 when he accepted a post as a graduate assistant at Illinois. One year later he was back in his native New England as freshman coach at Massachusetts. After two seasons, MacPherson, who met Chuck Studley when the latter was an assistant at Illinois, moved on to Cincinnati when Studley was hired as head coach. MacPherson started as the freshman coach, was promoted to offensive line coach and eventually served stints as a coordinator on both sides of the ball. The staff had another assistant who went on to a storied career as head coach – Don Nehlen, who eventually took charge of West Virginia's program.
In 1966 Lou Saban, who had just led the Buffalo Bills to back-to-back American Football League (AFL) championships, became head coach at Maryland. He tabbed MacPherson to coach the defensive backs. A year later, Saban was back in the AFL with Denver Broncos and MacPherson was in tow as linebacker and defensive coach. He was named defensive coordinator in 1969.
MacPherson was lured back to the collegiate ranks in 1971 when Massachusetts offered him its head coaching post. He put his own personal stamp and over the course of seven years guided UMass to four Yankee Conference crowns and a cumulative record of 45-27-1. His 1972 squad was 9-2 and capped the campaign by beating Cal-Davis in the Boardwalk Bowl, 35-14. MacPherson was named New England Football Coach of the Year twice.
The NFL called again and MacPherson answered, accepting the linebacker coach slot on the Cleveland Browns staff put together by Sam Rutigliano in 1978. In 1980 the Browns won the AFC Central Division crown, MacPherson's last with the club.
A 1948 graduate of Old Town High School (Maine), MacPherson attended Maine Maritime Academy from 1948-to-1950 and then enlisted in the Air Force from 1950-to-54. He enrolled at Springfield College (Mass.) and earned three varsity letters as a center and linebacker. MacPherson was part of an undefeated team his junior year and served as a team captain as a senior. His class did not lose a home game. The group's three-year record was 19-4-1.
Official induction is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2009 at The National Football Foundation's (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Enshrinement in the Hall of Fame will take place during the summer of 2010 in South Bend, Ind.
The criterion for coach induction includes a minimum of 10 years and 100 games as a head coach and won 60 percent of their games. The individual must be retired from coaching for at least three years; be retired from coaching and over the age of 70 (no waiting period); or over the age of 75 (active coaches eligible).
Current National Football Foundation members (a group of more than 12,000) and current Hall of Famers participate in the voting process. The results are submitted to the NFF Honors Court, a 13-member group made up of athletics directors, conference commissioners, Hall of Famers and members of the media. The Honors Court is chaired by Gene Corrigan, a former Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner and NCAA president.
MacPherson and his wife, Sandra, who married in 1958, have two daughters, Janet and Maureen.
