On Monday, the University of Colorado football program hired San Jose State University’s Mike MacIntyre to be its 25th head coach in school history. This week’s mailbag is all about the “Mac-Attack”.
1) How much coaching experience does MacIntyre have?
Mike MacIntyre is named the CU Buff’s new head football coach Monday. (Amy Leder/CU Independent File)
2) I’ve heard that MacIntyre’s dad was also a coach. What’s his story?
When Mike MacIntyre was officially introduced as Colorado’s head coach at Monday’s news conference, he said, “All my life I’ve wanted to be a football coach. I’m a coach’s son, it’s in my blood.” Though Mike MacIntyre’s father, George MacIntyre,was not the most successful coach in football history, he did have a notable season or two, and he was clearly an inspiration to his son. George MacIntyre was a head coach for both Tennessee-Martin University, from 1975-1977, and Vanderbilt University, from 1979-1985. In 1982, MacIntyre turned a struggling Vanderbilt team around to go 8-4 on the season and earn a berth in the Hall of Fame Classic Bowl. That season, he was named the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, the Sporting News Coach of the Year and the SEC Coach of the Year. It was MacIntyre’s only winning season at Vanderbilt. His overall coaching record at both universities combined was 43-66-1.
3) What have been the highlights of MacIntyre’s coaching career so far?
Mike MacIntyre has taken teams to three Independence Bowl victories, with Georgia in 1991 and Mississippi in 1999 and 2002. Notably, he also helped recruit Patrick Willis, an All-Pro linebacker in the NFL, to the University of Mississippi. In 2009, the American Football Coaches’ Association awarded MacIntyre, then on the coaching staff at Duke, Assistant Coach of the Year. Most applicable to CU, when MacIntyre took the job at San Jose State in 2010, the team had had only three winning seasons since 1993. MacIntyre went 1-12 in his first season with the Spartans, but in 2012 he has taken his team to a 10-2 season record, a No. 24 national ranking, and a berth in the Military Bowl. MacIntyre knows what it’s like to turn a team around, so hopefully he can make it happen with the Buffs.
Have a question to ask the CUI Sports staff? Email Tips@cuindependent.com or tweet @CUISports with your question, and we’ll address it in our next mailbag!
Contact CU Independent Sports Editors Caryn Maconi and Scott Annis at Caryn.maconi@colorado.edu and Scott.annis@colorado.edu.
