Members of the McCartney family knew the day was coming.
Bill McCartney died on Jan. 10 at the age of 84 after a long battle with dementia and his son, Mike, said this week, “I thought I was ready, because we knew he was dying.”
Who can really be ready, though, to say goodbye to a man who meant so much?
“It hit me a lot harder than I expected,” Mike said, “and I got really emotional for a few days. What I realized was, when my mom (Lyndi) died in 2013, I had my dad, and I had to worry about my dad. I don’t have any parents anymore, and the finality of that was really sobering.”
Mike, his siblings Tom, Marc and Kristy, no longer have their father. Others in the family no longer have their grandfather or brother. This week, however, the McCartneys came together with their Colorado Buffaloes family to celebrate the life of the legendary Coach Mac.
McCartney coached CU football from 1982-94, going 93-55-5 with nine bowl appearances and the only national title in program history, in 1990. The winningest coach in CU history had assistant coaches become head coaches. He had players who won trophies, All-American honors and went on to play in the NFL or embark on their own coaching careers.
His long-lasting impact went beyond the football field, though, and well beyond his 13 seasons as CU’s head coach. He had tremendous impact through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and as a co-founder of “Promise Keepers,” one of the nation’s fastest-growing Christian organizations in the 1990s. He represented Promise Keepers for almost a decade after his retirement from CU.
Family, friends and Mac’s players gathered Tuesday night to catch up and share stories. On Wednesday at the CU Events Center, family, friends, players, fans and the current Buffs attended a celebration of Mac’s life.
“I think it’s a really special day to be able to celebrate his life and the impact that he had on our student-athletes during his tenure, being the best coach in our history, and the accomplishments that he made,” CU athletic director Rick George said. “To see some of the old coaches and administrators and student-athletes, it’s been a blessing and a joy.”
From the stories on Tuesday night to the speeches on Wednesday, the message was less about football than about McCartney’s faith in God, remarkable leadership ability and his life-long impact on those who met him.
Mike, Tom and Marc McCartney all spoke at the celebration, as did Coach Mac’s grandson, Derek, who played at CU from 2014-17. Former Buffs Mike Jones, Jon Embree and Chris Hudson also spoke, along with George and Dr. Raleigh Washington, who worked with McCartney with the Promise Keepers.
The ceremony, emceed by the radio voice of the Buffs, Mark Johnson, went more than three hours and brought together some of CU’s greatest players, including Eric Bieniemy, JJ Flannigan, Darian Hagan, Hudson, Matt Russell, Michael Westbrook and Alfred Williams.
“Even in life and in death, look what he did,” Flannigan, who played running back for the Buffs from 1986-89 and flew in from his home in Phoenix, told BuffZone. “He still brought us back together. … There’s nothing more special than a man that can bring all this together, and so we’re gonna celebrate his life. I told everybody I talked to, I don’t have time to be sad. I’m not. I did that already, when I first found out. Now we’re going to celebrate his life and enjoy all the people that he brought back together.”
Although McCartney’s death led to many of his former players making the journey to Boulder to celebrate his life, he really brought them together roughly four decades ago. Many of them have remained friends ever since.
“I think it’s a testament to what he was and what he did for everybody,” Embree, a tight end in Mac’s first recruiting class in 1982, told BuffZone. “He changed everyone’s lives in here in so many different manners, in different ways. I don’t think you can find a guy here that says they would be where they are if they hadn’t played for Mac.
“Mac created a brotherhood. I mean, he really did. A lot of these guys I may not have seen in a while, but we’ve all communicated via phone or text messages. A lot of guys have been at each other’s weddings. … We really are all like brothers.”
Brothers, such as Flannigan, a highly recruited player from Pomona, Calif., and Jeff Campbell, a less-heralded recruit from Battle Mountain High School in Vail. The two have been tight since they played together in the late 1980s and, in fact, were on the phone with each other when they found out the news that Coach Mac had died.
“We gave each other our moment while on the phone and just cried,” Flannigan said.
“(Coming here this week), you’ve got to pay homage to the people, to the man who got you where you are, that person that believed in you and said, ‘OK, you can get this done.’ I wouldn’t be where I am today without him and the friends and the companionship that I’ve made over the years. … This is the foundation, everybody from ’82 to ’94 is the foundation of CU football. To have all these guys come back, that’s all that matters.”
The foundation of CU football has helped Mike McCartney and his family get through the nearly two weeks since their father died.
“He coached for 13 years (at CU), and there’s guys represented on every one of those years, and they’re all saying the same thing – and they’re really not talking football,” Mike said. “They’re talking about the impact he had on their life. It’s hard losing a parent, right? But how many people lose their parent and have nobody to really support them? We’re a community that’s coming together. Yeah, it’s really cool.”
It’s been 30 years since Coach Mac left the Buffs to devote his time to his faith and his family. In those 30 years, Mike has continued to hear stories about his father.
“Just super proud of my dad,” said Mike, who has remained in football and is an agent for NFL players. “Super proud, because I knew how much he loved the players and cared for them as men. He wanted them to be great husbands, fathers, difference makers off the field as well. So it’s always awesome to run into guys. Because I’ve been in the NFL 33 years, I get that opportunity to see and talk to guys a lot, and there’s not a single time I’ve ever talked to a Buff where my dad doesn’t come up. And it’s gonna be that way the rest of my life.”
The football stories will always be there. The stories of Mac’s faith will be there, as well. But for Mike, Tom, Marc and Kristy, there will always be memories of the man he was as a father.
“If we let the world define who my dad was, they would say he was a great football coach who shared his faith,” Mike said. “That’s not how we saw him. We saw a man of faith who impacted his family and those around him – and he happened to coach a little football, too.”
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