Ron McBride made Utah football

by JazzyUte on Nov 8, 2011 11:32 PM MST in Football

In 1989, the year Ron McBride took over as Utah's football coach, the Utes had endured losing seasons, bowl droughts, lopsided losses to BYU and an apathetic fan base that cared more about college basketball than anything the football team put on the field.

A culture of losing had gripped the program and it led to a revolving door of coaches - six to be exact through a 30 year period. That changed in the winter months of 1989. McBride, a former assistant at Utah, was announced as the new head coach and, seemingly overnight, changed the mindset within the football program.

Two years after taking over, he would guide Utah to their first bowl game 28 years. A year later, they won for the first time in Provo in 22 years. A year after that, the program reached its highest level to that point, a 10-2 season and a top-ten finish. McBride had taken a program that seemed cursed and doomed to mediocrity and turned it into one of the most consistent and impressive of the non-BCS level.

Much of this came through his remarkable ability to recruit. McBride was never known for his coaching prowess. He rarely out-schemed the opposition and his teams were prone to inexcusable losses, but he had a great eye for talent, especially up front and in the back field. During McBride's tenure in Salt Lake, the Utes were known for their strong offensive lines and potent running backs.

McBride was also a great motivator, especially against BYU. From 1993 to his final season with the Utes, he only lost four times to the Cougars - 1996, 1998 (a missed field goal as time expired that would've won it), 2000 (LaVell Edwards' final game) and 2001 (Luke Staley's exceptional run late in the game to top off a stunning comeback for the Cougars). He changed the rivalry more than any coach in Utah football history.

Things opened up dramatically for the Utes when they leveled the playing field against the Cougars. Prior to McBride's arrival, BYU owned this town and state. Utah was that cute story that sometimes, though rarely, pulled off an upset or challenged the mighty Cougars.

Not anymore, though. Now, it's Utah who's posting dominant victories over BYU ('04, '08, '11) and having more national success ('04, '08 BCS bowls). That all started with McBride. His vision was to build the Utah program into something special and though he could never get the Utes over the hump, he built the foundation that allowed Urban Meyer to walk in and go 22-2 and Kyle Whittingham, who McBride hired in '94, to guide Utah football into the Pac-12.

None of that would've happened had it not been for Ron McBride.

Every Ute fan owes McBride a debt of gratitude and now that he's retiring from coaching, I wish him a happy and relaxing retirement. He's earned it.

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Comments

Well Said

The tide really started to turn when our 6-5 team got into the Weiser Lock Copper Bowl (can’t believe I still remember the sponsor of that game) — and even though we lost, it felt like we we had turned a corner and become a legitimate team, at least regionally and possibly even nationally. And then when you had 1993 (34-31 Part I) and 1994 (34-31 Part II — AP Top Ten) it felt like we could sustain that type of success for a long period of time. And, actually, is looks like we have. Thanks for laying that oh-so-important foundation, Ron.

Platitudes aside, did you have to bring up the 1998 BYU game? I was there, and I was so pissed at Kaneshiro for missing that kick I yelled, “You go to school for free for kicking footballs!” Someone nearby informed me that Ryan was not a scholarship player. I felt rather bad for him after that. And then somebody reminded me that’s why they invented rum (and 10:00 AM kick-offs apparently — egads that was a long day).

by kadoogan on Nov 8, 2011 11:47 PM MST reply actions

Was flipping through the channels last Saturday..

And I came across Mcbride’s Wildcats vs. Montana State and the first thing I noticed was that McBride looked miserable. a sad sight to see. but how can you blame him playing in a dump of a stadium with too many empty seats. It was complete opposite of what i remember seeing from coach mac on the sidelines at utah games and occasionally when i’d run it to him at the gym. The guy had a tremendous passion for his players and the game and was a great guy off the field. Like you jazzy I hope he can be happy now that he is retired.

by utahmanami on Nov 9, 2011 2:54 AM MST reply actions

MAFU Forever

McBride developed the Poly Pipeline that has been such an integral part of the Utes.

It’s fitting that as 2011 is the year McBride draws the curtain on his career, the Utes are taking the field with a team that is so very Ron McBride like. QB who you just don’t want to lose the game for you. A running back to carry the load, and a defense to swarm the other team.

by UnHoly Ram on Nov 9, 2011 7:13 AM MST reply actions

What did MAFU stand for?

I remember his hats with MAFU on them but I can’t remember what it stood for.

by utefan85 on Nov 9, 2011 10:08 AM MST up reply actions

Mental toughness, attitude, fanatical effort and unity

Dolphins and sharks are natural enemies. Dolphins are like, "Quit eating us," and sharks are like, "Stop smiling all the time, you morons."

Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com

by CrimsonUte on Nov 9, 2011 10:30 AM MST up reply actions

Always a players coach...

Much love for that. How do you not LOVE Coach MAC! He is football inside and out. However, if the program was going to move beyond good and sometimes very good to BCS winners a change needed to happen. Lucky for us it was the right change. Perhaps this why coach Whitt is as good as he is. Leaning from both seems to have been very much in his best interest and we all get reap the benefits :) .

I am a Utah Man sir... I will be till I die.

by Ute95 on Nov 9, 2011 10:08 AM MST reply actions

have a happy retirement Mr. McBride.

Public Enemy #1 and enjoying every minute of it. Tapology. Peace.

by wolfmanshowlforever on Nov 9, 2011 5:34 PM MST reply actions

I respect McBride, but...

I believe he gets too much credit for the success of Utah’s football program.

That credit rightfully belongs to Urban Meyer.

Yes, McBride elevated Utah’s program above what it had been before his tenure. But if you wanna talk about getting Utah over the hump, onto the national scene, and into the Pac 12… all credit goes to Meyer and Kyle Whittingham, and them alone.

Had McBride continued to coach Utah, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Fiesta and Sugar bowls would have never happened, the Pac 12 would never have happened, and the Utes would still be a mid major that makes a little noise in the MWC every five years or so.

So again, I respect McBride for bringing what he did. But the Utah media typically give him a lot of credit he didn’t deserve.

by TomahawkRed on Nov 9, 2011 8:39 PM MST reply actions

I don't think anyone would disagree with you...

We’re not claiming him to be the greatest coach in program history, but it’s unlikely Meyer walks into this program, with the talent and mindset it had in 1989, and goes 22-2 over a two-year span.

In fact, I don’t know if Meyer would’ve even accepted the job back then because of the level it had fallen over the last three decades. Meyer mentioned quite a bit that he took the job because he saw the potential and knew the talent was there to win.

McBride made Utah competitive so that they could go out and get a guy like Meyer. Without him, we’re probably stuck with a bunch of retread coaches who have one or two okay seasons, lose a bunch to BYU and then get the ax after consecutive losing seasons.

by JazzyUte on Nov 9, 2011 11:25 PM MST up reply actions

yep. spot on.

[shameless self promotion] You are always welcome to visit my blog @ bigbenstechnicalfoul.blogspot.com, I always try to make it fun and enjoyable. I most often talk teams in Utah, but I also like to talk national stuff. [/shameless self promotion]

by BigBenSportsGuy on Nov 10, 2011 10:58 AM MST up reply actions

Have to disagree.

Urban Meyer rightfully deserves the credit for having the Utes make the jump from an average to good WAC/MWC team to a team constantly in the national spotlight.

But don’t forget that more than half of that team was recruited by Mac.

No one is saying that McBride would have reached the level this team got to post Mac, in fact most believe that Mac had reached his ceiling.

But to ignore that it was McBride who started the rebuilding process, and got the program to a point, that a coach like Urban would even consider it a worthy job is just wrong and disrespectful

by UnHoly Ram on Nov 10, 2011 7:28 AM MST up reply actions

I'm with Jazzy and Ram

It takes FOREVER to turn around a miserable team. It’s not just four good classes of players; you need to have a team good enough to draw the attention of those players. To get that team, you need a team with mediocre athletes to have a winning attitude, and to get that, you need to win some games and get some fans in the seats. Getting respectable is a 10-20 year journey. McBride took the first leg of that journey.

His accomplishments are so valuable because there wasn’t a huge reward for accomplishing them. He brought the team to the next level, but all he got for it was let go so that we could go get a better coach. Urban Meyer brought the team to the next level (up from McBride’s), and got a tremendous amount of money, personal fame, and accolades for it. McBride could have simply slinked through his career, which would have given him better job security… but he wanted to win too much.

by Joseph Silverzweig on Nov 10, 2011 9:41 AM MST up reply actions

Coach Mac

I remember watching Utah beat Arizona in the Freedom Bowl.

He really deserves a lot of gratitude from the University for putting Utah football back on the map.

Thanks Coach McBride. Happy Retirement.

by Utah-UCLA alum on Nov 10, 2011 8:19 AM MST reply actions

Love that guy.

No, he was not a great strategic coach. But he made Utah legit. Without McBride, the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar bowl wouldn’t have happened.

Would love to have him back as an O-Line coach or a general assistant to help recruit O-Line men. Of course he wouldn’t take it, not after falling from the Head Coaching job, but he really was the man who got us out of the 20 year rut of the 70s and 80s.

And he understood above all the importance of the BYU-Utah rivalry. Knew that was the secret to getting us to care about our team.

Hope he has a long-great retirement.

by jim2 on Nov 10, 2011 12:27 PM MST reply actions