The big Seven-Oh finds Ron McBride doing what he loves best ...still coaching football, after all those years
By Jasen Asay (Standard-Examiner staff)
Last Edit: 12 hours 33 min ago (Oct 14 2009 - 11:16pm)
OGDEN -- Before Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy at Stanford and then a pair of Super Bowl championships with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, he had a young high school coach who tried his best to help the teenager get better.
Ron McBride, now in his fifth season as head football coach at Weber State, worked with Plunkett on his accuracy and power in his throws at James Lick High School in East San Jose. But it was on the baseball diamond, not the football field, where McBride gave Plunkett tips to help him improve, and that was where McBride experienced his first coaching moments.
"He had a flat fastball, and that was his only pitch," remembers McBride, who began at James Lick as a student teacher but became head baseball coach when the original coach was involved in an automobile accident. "He'd go about three innings and everything would look good, but once they caught on, boom, boom, boom."
In fact, the first championship McBride won as a coach was with the Piedmont Hills High School baseball team in 1966, prior to becoming an assistant football coach at Gavilan (Calif.) Junior College.
Those are just a few of the many fond coaching memories for McBride, who turned 70 years old on Wednesday to become just the eighth active coach in Division I football who is 70 or older. Another Big Sky Conference coach is close to joining the club as Portland State coach Jerry Glanville celebrated his 68th birthday on Wednesday.
"He's more old school," said WSU wide receiver Tim Toone. "That's his style and we have the younger assistant coaches to balance it out and that works."
But McBride does have some youthful zeal in him. As he passes through airports with his iPod headphones pumping out tunes, he often turns the music off when shaking hands and excitedly talking with someone he's crossed paths with during the past 40 years coaching college football. McBride rarely makes it through an airport, shopping mall or restaurant without being approached and hugged.
McBride, best known for his 21 years coaching at Utah, where he was the head coach from 1990-2002, helped turn around programs at UC Riverside, Long Beach State and Utah before taking over at Weber State. He has a career record of 116-88 as a head coach, but never dreamed about staying in the profession into his 70s.
"I never thought about it," said McBride, who decided his junior year at San Jose State that he wasn't just there to play football so he ought to get serious about earning a degree. "I just took it year by year and day by day. I feel real fortunate to be able to do it at this age and to enjoy what I'm doing."
Since taking over the Wildcat program, McBride is 28-25 and led the 'Cats to last season's co-Big Sky Championship. Not only has he helped programs get better, but he also wants his players to continually get better.
"He's very passionate and he cares about his players and he takes a lot of pride in what he does," said WSU co-defensive coordinator Jake Cookus.
Cookus has a better insight about McBride than most because he not only coached with McBride at Kentucky, but lhe ived with McBride and McBride's wife, Vicky. The younger assistant spent a lot of time on and away from the field with McBride, including traveling time in the car, which Cookus respectfully jokes was like "Driving Miss Daisy."
While McBride has the fiery genes in him that head coaches use to motivate their players, the Wildcats say they know McBride is concerned about their best interests.
"He's always on your case trying to bust your butt to make you better," Toone said. "He'll rip you and rip you and rip you, but after everything's done, he has your back and he loves every one of us."
McBride's health has been a concern after he suffered a heart attack in 2004 in Kentucky and then had a stent placed in an artery in 2007. He left the sidelines during a game last season at Idaho State to be treated for fatigue. However, this season McBride says he feels great. Last season he signed a contract extension that is good through 2012 with a chance of a fifth year added on. But as far as McBride is concerned, he's not looking too far ahead.
"I just worry about this year and that's about it," McBride said. "As long as I feel like I can be a positive influence on the players and be excited about what I'm doing, this is what I'll do. But I think the minute you're not too excited to go to work, or too tired, or don't have the enthusiasm to compete, then it's time to give it up."
Listen to the Big Sky Football Coaches Teleconference Part 1, coaches from WSU, MSU, NC, NAU
