National and Big 8 recap – 1982
In 1982, Penn State, which had failed to win titles in undefeated seasons, won its first national championship with an 11-1 campaign. Under long time head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions fell only once during the regular season, losing to Alabama 42-21. Recovering from the early stinging defeat, Penn State could not be bested the rest of the season, defeating previously unbeaten Georgia and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker 27-23 in the Sugar Bowl. The Nittany Lions were led by running back Curt Warner and quarterback Todd Blackledge.
In the Big Eight, Nebraska made it two consecutive unbeaten conference seasons, capturing the Big Eight crown for 12th time. The Huskers concluded their season 12-1, with the only blemish being a 27-24 early season loss to eventual national champion Penn State. Nebraska capped its season by beating LSU, 21-20, in the Orange Bowl, finishing 3rd in the final polls behind only Penn State and Georgia. Center Dave Rimington added a Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the nation’s outstanding lineman, to his second Outland Trophy. The national leader in scoring, total offense, and rushing, the Nebraska offense was led by quarterback Turner Gill, running back Mike Rozier, and wideout Irving Fryar. Oklahoma joined the Huskers in the bowls, losing to Arizona State, 32-21, in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 8-4 and ranked 16th in the polls. Kansas State made its first ever bowl appearance, losing 14-3 to Wisconsin in the Independence bowl. The Wildcats finished the season 6-5-1, missing out on the opportunity to finish a season ranked in the polls for the first time in school history.
Bill McCartney was hired as the University of Colorado’s 20th head football coach on June 9, 1982.
The significance of the date cannot be understated. June 9th – four months after the 1982 recruiting class had been announced, two months after spring practice had been concluded, and only three months before Colorado’s home opener against the California Golden Bears on September 11th. For a coach who had never been a head football coach for a program higher than the high school level (three years at Devine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan) on-the-job training would not be a cliché but a way of life for the new Buffs’ head coach. (McCartney, while at Devine Child, did become the first coach in Michigan prep history to guide a football team and a basketball team to the state championship in the same season).
Coach McCartney did bring to the program a fine coaching pedigree, coming from Bo Schembechler’s program at Michigan, where he had been an assistant coach for the previous seven seasons. McCartney also brought with him a reputation for being a recruiter and a defensive strategist. In 1980, after devising a six defensive back scheme to stop Purdue quarterback Mark Hermann, McCartney was actually named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week (it may be the first – and only – time that a coach was named Player of the Week).
“Coach Mac” also brought questions. Contrary to Chuck Fairbanks, who came to Boulder with a big time reputation and high profile, McCartney was low key and a virtual unknown. At Michigan, McCartney was in charge of defensive ends from 1974-76, moving up to the job of defensive coordinator in 1977.
Though he came to Colorado from the tradition-laden Big Ten, McCartney was not unfamiliar with the Big Eight. McCartney played in two Orange Bowls while a linebacker at Missouri, being named second team all Big Eight as a senior in 1961. While at Missouri, McCartney letterd 11 times in football, basketball, and baseball. As a senior, he was captain of both the football and basketball teams. He gradutated in 1962 with a degree in education.
For his part, the man of quiet intensity did not back down from the daunting task which lay before him. On his introduction to the media on June 9th, 1982, McCartney said: “I promise you we will have a program built on integrity, honesty, and character”. Apparently the local media was quite taken with the new coach. Columnist Dan Creedon of the Boulder Daily Camera reported on June 10, 1982:
“Not since another Michigan native, Sonny Grandelius, swept Colorado committees off their feet 24 years ago (Grandelius coached the Buffs from 1959-61, compiling a record of 20-11, including a Big Eight title in 1961) has a coaching candidate made as favorable an impression here as McCartney did.”
McCartney was equally complimentary of Boulder as 1982 season opened. McCartney was quoted in the program for his first game as head coach:
“The thrill of getting a head coaching job has not worn off. The big thing has been the overwhelming response that we’ve received from the media, boosters, and most recently the players. I am more excited now than ever before.”
In preparing for the 1982 campaign, Coach McCartney understandably decided to simplify things. After all, the first opportunity for the new coach to meet the majority of his players came at the onset of fall drills.
(Author’s Note: for those accustomed to programs with all-year weight and conditioning programs – as Colorado has now – this last piece of information may seem implausible. Yet, this was the state of the Colorado program at the time. Coach Mac was quoted in 1987, on the fifth anniversary of his hiring, as calling the conditioning of the players in 1982 “sickening. I couldn’t even believe these were Division I athletes”).
Still, McCartney promised the faithful an “imaginative and creative” new offense, with a “solid defense and a good kicking game”. Colorado fans were optimistic, failing to recognize the obvious …
The coach was new, but the players were not.
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