We lost another brother…Bill McCartney, “Coach Mac” of the University of Colorado, 1982 – 1994, passed away Friday night, January 10, 2025, at the age of 84.

Here’s a succinct summary of his coaching prowess for which he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013:

In 1982, McCartney took over a Colorado program that was coming off three straight losing seasons with a combined record of 7-26. After three more struggling seasons, McCartney turned things around to go to bowl games in nine out of 10 seasons starting in 1985, when he switched over to a wishbone offense…

After getting off to an uninspiring 1-1-1 start in 1990, Colorado won its next nine games to earn a No. 1 ranking and a rematch with the Fighting Irish. This time the Buffaloes prevailed 10-9 and grabbed a share of the national title atop the AP poll.  – ESPN, January 11, 2025

ESPN managed to write a long article without mentioning his founding Promise Keepers, the national men’s movement, which began in the early 1990s. While I’m not a big event guy, as I’ve written before, I was with my sons for several Promise Keepers events, beginning with the first large conference at Folsom Field in Boulder, about 25,000 men (half-capacity). It was followed by two others, I think, where Folsom Field was filled with about 50,000 men, then at Mile High Stadium in Denver with 70,000+ men. Tomorrow I’ll share my primary takeaway from these events.

Back to Coach Mac, he was known not only for winning games but also for building men.

Alfred “Big Al” Williams, who went to the NFL after playing for Coach Mac wrote:

A hall of fame coach but somehow a better man and human being…Love you Coach!…His legacy is firmly built on love, character, integrity, hope, and faith. I will always thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to have him in my life. Thank you Coach for loving on all of us.

As a young player, you didn’t always understand his methods or his philosophy in life as a coach. As an adult, you quickly realize he was on to something. He was the only coach I ever played for that would sacrifice winning to make you a better person…It was always so much bigger than football with Coach. His impact was so profound. It is not uncommon for guys who dealt with him after negative situations to come back later and admit that he saved their life. – Vance Joseph, former CU quarterback and current Denver Broncos defensive coordinator

Obviously he is a great football coach. But the ability to unite people may have been his greatest gift. The football, the X’s and O’s, 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…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. A lot of recruiters say things on your visit. He batted 1,000. – former CU All-American linebacker Chad Brown, as reported in the Denver Post

And his Christian influence was there:

I did not necessarily agree with his view of the world. I wasn’t attending church in Boulder. Like a lot of students, I was losing my religion. But McCartney was interesting. There was something about Coach Mac that made you want to be near him, to hear him. – Troy Renck, student reporter 1989 – 2003, now with the Denver Post.

God has people everywhere, and I am thankful.

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, NKJV)

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9.24, NKJV)