RIP Coach Mac**

[JKinPhilly]

RIP Coach Mac, a true coaching legend.

 

[xc84]

I loved his unpredictable interviews. I recall once it was reported he went to the hospital for something heart related after a game and that he spent the night there. When they interviewed Mac the next day, the reporter stated he heard that Mac spent the night in the hospital. Coach Mac scoffed at the report and said something like, 'If I was in the hospital last night, I wonder who that was having such a great time in bed with my wife.'

EDIT
I had to add this since syra . com put the actual quotes in there.
'We'll see Playboy in January': the best quotes from Dick MacPherson

"But I want you to know this: If I spent the night in the hospital like she [reporter] said I did, then my wife wants to know who the heck else slept with her, because she had a heck of a time with him. I also want everybody her to know, until she admits she's wrong, I've got a pain somewhere else.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[007]

Syracuse University lost its "grandfather" today. Gawd love ya, Coach Mac.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[Stevenson]

A Syracuse Legend. Very sad day.

 

[orange79]

Gawd love him. RIP, Coach

 

[RoysRunts]

A quipster up there with the likes of Yogi Berra and Casey Stengle. In July of 1987 I saw Coach Mac and the West Virginia Coach(Don Nehlon) in the Locks at Fulton NY on their way to Alexandria Bay. I yelled down at him "How many Games you gonna win this year"? He shouted back We have to beat Maryland 1st. I am grateful for all the hours of entertainment he gave to me and my family If anyone was born to Coach it was him..

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[iommi]

I was at SU when Coach Mac was coach. My friends and I had just sat down at Varsity when I noticed him walking out with what looked like a bag of food. I said something like, "hey, coach!" He turned around, came back in and walked over to our table to say hi. I think he told us to make sure we'd be coming to that week's game. That "the team needs your support."

Very nice guy and very cool of him to say hi when he was walking out. That made a big impression on me.

 

[chakka3421]

What a fabulous guy with such a great attitude on life. Always was fun to be around! Will miss his uplifting voice! RIP Coach!

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[bevosu]

I always liked Coach Mac, but what really iced it for me was this...

I was driving back from Canada on a business trip. I got to Watertown on Route 81 and turned the radio on. Mac was doing his weekly radio show.

A young boy called in. The boy may have been 11-12 years old and was obviously mentally handicapped.

My first thought was..they're going to somehow cut the call short. Mac went on to engage this kid in conversation for at least 10 minutes. I was so touched by the man's kindness and consideration that I almost cried.

The boy was absolutely thrilled.

Great coach, but a greater person. RIP.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[orangetom]

30 years ago. Yet it feels like yesterday. Thanks for posting!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Orangejet]

Coach Babers,
Please honor Coach Mac this season with an orange MAC on the helmets and/or the game jerseys for that would be a great tribute to honor a Syracuse legend.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[DoctorBombay]

Coach Babers,
Please honor Coach Mac this season with an orange MAC on the helmets and/or the game jerseys for that would be a great tribute to a Syracuse legend.

x1000.
We can always use that Mac Mojo!

 

[Scooch]

I think Scooch is in the same boat with me but my experiences with Mac were of admiration and sadness. I always felt bad for him having to take over the Patriots when they were run in such a terrible fashion. He was set up to fail with that roster and ownership group. Under different times Mac could have flourished in the NFL in a Pete Carroll fashion.

I agree in that he's the second most important person post Ben. He is, as shallow as this sounds, one of the reasons I decided to attend SU. I fell in love with Syracuse during 1987 as an 11 year old. My beloved Eagles, at the time, were terrible and i was somewhat curious of what the Orangemen were doing to the west with their cool Dome and the guy with the suit and tie running on the sideline.

It is interesting that Bob Ryan, of the Boston Globe, has a podcast and recently interviewed Sean McDonough. Sean waxed poetic about Dick Mac and how much Will McDonough loved Mac and how much Mac loved the McDonough family. Sean got very emotional during the podcast which made me wonder if the end was near. It was.

Mac's first year with the Pats was so much fun. He took over an utter disaster (1-15 in 1990) and somehow managed to win 6 games in 1991, basically on the sheer will of his personality. A few breaks and that could've been an 8-8 team. But as you said, the organization was a mess and his second year was inevitably bad. Give Mac the Pats team that Pete Carroll inherited in 1997 and he has a nice NFL run for a few years.

And like yourself, the success of the football program under Mac was a factor in my going to SU. The biggest factor was impossibly getting into Newhouse, but I really wanted to experience big time college sports. I was a BC fan back then as well but always liked the freeze option system played in that Dome (and in the interest of full disclosure, I hated Boeheim and SU hoops until I stepped onto campus in the fall of 1991).

 

[All4SU]

Have we ever had a SU coach who was better at reading the changes in momentum of a football game? When to go for it and when to quick kick?

 

[OrangeOnions]

A true Syracuse legend. A great coach and even better man. RIP Coach Mac.