Bill McCartney, the Hall of Fame football coach who led the CU Buffs to their lone national title, died Friday night after a lengthy battle with dementia, the university announced. He was 84.
The family released a statement through the school late Friday mourning McCartney’s passing.
“Our father surrendered his life to Jesus at 33 years old, setting a trajectory for our family and many others. We share his faith in Jesus and truly believe our Dad has been reunited in Heaven with his beloved bride and our Mother, Lynn Marie,” the statement read.
“Coach Mac touched countless lives with his unwavering faith, boundless compassion, and enduring legacy as a leader, mentor and advocate for family, community and faith. As a trailblazer and visionary, his impact was felt both on and off the field, and his spirit will forever remain the hearts of those he inspired.”
McCartney’s passion for football and people defined his time at CU, where he morphed from a little known former Michigan assistant under Bo Schembechler into the winningest coach in school history. He arrived on the Boulder campus in 1982, tasked with reviving a program that had reached rock bottom. He struggled in his few seasons and there was some thought he would be fired after posting a 1-10 record in his third year.
Instead, he received a contract extension, setting in motion the best decade CU has ever experienced on the gridiron.
He turned the corner with talented recruits not only from Colorado, but from across the country, most notably California. McCartney guided the Buffs to their first and only national championship to date in 1990.
He led the school to nine bowl games and won three Big Eight titles and posted 10 consecutive winning seasons. But it was his investment in players and his strong religious faith that resonated most.
His former players talk about the brotherhood he built in the program, which led to so much success and interest that he was featured in an ESPN 30 for 30 program, “The Gospel According to Mac.”
“Obviously he is a great football coach. But the ability to unite people may have been his greatest gift. The football, the Xs and Os, were great. It was the way he was a uniting force. Mac was able to get us all going in the same direction, kids who had come from different parts of the country with different backgrounds,” said former CU All-American linebacker Chad Brown.
“He was able to create hope and a vision for us. Teammates became brothers. And he built that. Everything he told me on my recruiting trip came true. He said we would win a national championship, win conference championships, and that I would fall in love with the state of Colorado and marry a girl I met on campus. And he batted 1,000.”
McCartney was a defensive coach, but employed option football. The Buffaloes excelled with stars like quarterback Sal Aunese, Darian Hagan and running back J.J. Flannigan. Later, running back Rashaan Salaam won the school’s first Heisman Trophy in Mac’s final season in 1994. CU became a pipeline to the NFL for stars like Michael Westbrook, Joel Steed and Brown.
As McCartney excelled on the field, he became a polarizing figure off of it. He received criticism for his views on homosexuality and later left coaching to lead Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian men’s organization that he founded in 1990.
His conviction is something players cited in their memories of him on Friday night. They saw him not just as a coach, but a father figure.
“I am in my mid 50s. And I think about my life. My journey from Detroit to Colorado. My two kids, all the fortune I had in my life. The reality is I don’t know what my life would be without the very unique experience of being coached and being led by that man,” said former CU quarterback Charles Johnson, a member of the 1990 National Championship team. “I couldn’t imagine any of it without him.”
Details about his memorial service will be shared in the coming days.