02-05-2016, 01:34 PM
I had a chance to meet him when he coached at SJSU. He had amazing energy but little understanding of how academics thought. He gamely tried to reassure the SJSU faculty in 1993 that our football program was worth continuing by coming to our Academic Senate and promising us a national championship. I felt sorry for him when he did that--he came across as completely sincere--and I began to think of him as delusional. He was so well meaning, but I knew he was taking on a hopeless task that would simply besmirch all of my fond memories of the winning Stanford coach from another era. After compiling an 11-34 record with nary a hint of improvement, he went the way of so many other SJSU coaches and quietly drifted away.
The article is quite poignant. It does seem entirely unfair that he has received no recognition for his work with the Broncos. But his high point as a coach was with Stanford, and we all owe him our appreciation for those glorious years and Rose Bowls long before winning was common for us.
The article is quite poignant. It does seem entirely unfair that he has received no recognition for his work with the Broncos. But his high point as a coach was with Stanford, and we all owe him our appreciation for those glorious years and Rose Bowls long before winning was common for us.