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University of Massachusets Athletics
Former Coach MacPherson To Be Honored This Weekend At College Football Hall
July 17, 2009 | Football
July 17, 2009
SOUTH BEND, Indiana - The College Football Hall of Fame's signature event is the annual Enshrinement Festival. Join us July 17-18 in downtown South Bend as our community gathers together with football fans from across the country to honor college football's gridiron legends. Fans have a variety of opportunities to meet and mingle with the Enshrinees during this spectacular event. The 2009 Class features Lou Holtz, Troy Aikman and Thurman Thomas, among others who are being enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
South Bend and the College Football Hall of Fame will play host to a jam-packed weekend of fun-filled events. During the various events, families and fans of all ages, will celebrate the induction of 21 football legends into the College Football Hall of Fame and experience a wide variety of activities, including concerts, fireworks, a Grand Parade, Pep Rally, FanFest, and much more.
For more information or to order tickets, call 574-235-5717 or 1-800-440-FAME.
Former UMass Football Head Coach and UMass Hall of Famer Dick MacPherson was one of 18 named as new inductees for the College Football Hall of Fame on April 30. MacPherson, who coached UMass from 1971-77, was one of two coaches (John Robinson) to be honored in addition to 16 players including Notre Dame's Tim Brown, West Virginia's Major Harris, Texas' Steve McMichael, Ohio State's Chris Speilman, Miami's Gino Torretta, Penn State's Curt Warner and Nebraska's Grant Wistrom.
Coach MacPherson is the person with connections to UMass to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 8, 2009, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in the summer of 2010.
Here is Coach Mac's Profile.
DICK MacPHERSON
University of Massachusetts, Syracuse University
Head Coach, 111-73-5
Dick MacPherson served as the head coach of the UMass football program for seven seasons, from 1971-1977, leading the team to four Yankee Conference championships (1971, 1972, 1974 and 1977). During his seven seasons, MacPherson recorded a 45-27-1 record and led UMass to its only postseason bowl victory, as his 1972 squad defeated the University of California at Davis 35-14 in the 1972 Boardwalk Bowl.
MacPherson's 45 victories rank third all-time in UMass history. His squads also posted a 28-8-1 mark in Yankee Conference games, and his .778 winning percentage ranks fifth-best in league history. The first coach in UMass history to win eight or more games in three different seasons, his nine-win campaign in 1972 tied the school record for single-season victories first set in 1901.
In 1977, MacPherson's Minutemen were the first team in school history to play in the NCAA playoffs, losing to Lehigh, 30-23, in the NCAA Division II playoffs. He produced 55 first team all-conference selections, as well as seven first team All-Americans in his tenure, with seven of his players going on to play professionally.
After his success with the Minutemen, Syracuse gave him their head job in 1981. MacPherson ranks third all-time at Syracuse for wins (66) and most seasons coached (10). During his tenure as head coach he led the Orange to five bowl games while posting a 3-1-1 record in post-season play. In 1987, the Orange posted an 11-0-1 record, playing Auburn to a 16-16 tie in the Sugar Bowl and finishing fourth in the national polls.
Named NCAA National Coach of the Year in 1987, Coach Dick MacPherson led the Orange to an 11-0-1 record and the fourth spot in the final Associated Press ranking.
He coached two College Football Hall of Fame players, Tim Greene and Don McPherson, eight All-Americans, two NFF National Scholar-Athletes during his 10 years at Syracuse.
MacPherson currently works as a color commentator for Syracuse Football radio broadcasts, splitting his time between Palm Bay, Fla., Princeton, Maine and Jamesville, N.Y.
Here is the official complete release from the College Football Hall of Fame
NEW YORK, April 30, 2009 - From the national ballot of 76 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees, Archie Manning, chairman of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, announced the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) Class, which includes the names of 16 First Team All-America players and two legendary coaches.
2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS
PLAYERS
PERVIS ATKINS - HB, New Mexico State (1958-60)
TIM BROWN - WR, Notre Dame (1984-87)
CHUCK CECIL - DB, Arizona (1984-87)
ED DYAS - FB, Auburn (1958-60)
MAJOR HARRIS - QB, West Virginia (1987-89)
GORDON HUDSON - TE, Brigham Young (1980-83)
WILLIAM LEWIS* - C, Harvard (1892-93)
WOODROW LOWE - LB, Alabama (1972-75)
KEN MARGERUM - WR, Stanford (1977-80)
STEVE McMICHAEL - DT, Texas (1976-79)
CHRIS SPIELMAN - LB, Ohio State (1984-87)
LARRY STATION - LB, Iowa (1982-85)
PAT SWILLING - DE, Georgia Tech (1982-85)
GINO TORRETTA - QB, Miami (Fla.) (1989-92)
CURT WARNER - RB, Penn State (1979-82)
GRANT WISTROM - DE, Nebraska (1994-97)
* Selection from the FBS Veterans Committee, deceased
COACHES
DICK MacPHERSON - 111-73-5 (.601) - Massachusetts (1971-77), Syracuse (1981-90)
JOHN ROBINSON - 132-77-4 (.629) - Southern California (1976-82, 1993-97), Nevada-Las Vegas (1999-2004)
"The NFF Honors Court and its Chairman Gene Corrigan did an exceptional job in selecting the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Class," said Manning, a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. "This year's class represents two centuries of outstanding football players who have reached the pinnacle of success in the collegiate ranks, and we are happy to preserve their legacies in the Hall of Fame."
The 2009 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class will be inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 8, 2009, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., during ceremonies in the summer of 2010.
2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION CLASS NOTES
PLAYERS:
Two Heisman Trophy winners (Brown, Torretta) Seven unanimous First Team All-Americans (Brown, Hudson, McMichael, Spielman, Station, Torretta, Wistrom)
Five consensus First Team All-Americans (Cecil, Lowe, Margerum, Spielman, Station)
Seven multiple-year First Team All-America honorees (Brown - 2, Hudson - 2, Lowe - 3, Margerum - 2, Spielman - 2, Station - 2, Wistrom - 2)
One Maxwell Award winner (Torretta) Two Walter Camp Players of the Year (Brown, Torretta) One Davey O'Brien Award winner (Torretta) Two Lombardi Award winners (Spielman, Wistrom) Two NFF National Scholar-Athletes (Dyas, Wistrom) Five Academic All-Americans (Cecil, Dyas, Margerum, Station, Wistrom) Four members of National Championship teams (Lowe, Torretta, Warner, Wistrom)
Eight members of conference championship teams (Atkins, Hudson, Lowe, McMichael, Spielman, Station, Torretta, Wistrom)
Six decades and two centuries represented: 1890s (1) - Lewis; 1950s (2) - Atkins, Dyas; 1960s (2) - Atkins, Dyas; 1970s (4) - Lowe, Margerum, McMichael, Warner; 1980s (10) - Brown, Cecil, Harris, Hudson, Margerum, Spielman, Station, Swilling, Torretta, Warner; 1990s (2) - Torretta, Wistrom
COACHES:
? Nine Conference Championships (MacPherson - 4, Robinson - 5) ? 15 Bowl berths (MacPherson - 6, Robinson - 9) 32 First Team All-Americas coached (MacPherson - 14, Robinson - 18) Seven NFF National Scholar-Athletes Coached (MacPherson - 2, Robinson - 5)