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Dick MacPherson
Richard F. MacPherson (November 4, 1930 – August 8, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 to 1977 and at Syracuse University from 1981 to 1990, compiling a career college football record of 111–73–5. He served as a National Football League (NFL) head coach for the New England Patriots from 1991 to 1992, tallying a mark of 8–24. "Coach Mac" was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2009.
MacPherson was born on Nov. 4, 1930, in Old Town, Maine, the second youngest of 12 children. At Old Town High School, he played high school football, basketball and baseball and graduated in 1948. He enrolled at Maine Maritime Academy and then served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950 to 1954 during the Korean War.
MacPherson returned to school at Springfield College (Mass.), where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1958. He was a center and linebacker on the football team, a member of the Chiefs’ undefeated 1956 squad and served as team captain as a senior. It was at Springfield that he met his future wife, the former Sandra Jean Moffitt, when both were sophomores. His alma mater awarded him with induction into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, and he earned entry into the State of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
MacPherson's first coaching stop was at University of Illinois where he was a graduate assistant coach with the freshman team while working on his master's degree. He moved on to University of Massachusetts as freshman coach for two years and then took an assistant's post at University of Cincinnati under Coach Chuck Studley.
Lou Saban hired MacPherson at University of Maryland in 1966 and then, when the Denver Broncos selected Saban as head coach, he brought MacPherson with him to coach defense.
Named head coach at UMass in 1971, MacPherson led the Minutemen to four Yankee Conference titles in seven years. During that span, he twice claimed New England Football Coach of the Year honors. His 45 victories at Massachusetts rank him third all-time in school history, and his 28-8-1 mark in Yankee Conference games notches a .778 winning percentage, which places him fifth in league history. The first UMass coach 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.
He returned to the NFL as an assistant coach on the staff of Sam Rutigliano with the Cleveland Browns from 1978 to 1980.
MacPherson was hired as the 25th head coach at Syracuse University by then-athletics director Jake Crouthamel. Syracuse had made just one bowl appearance in the previous 14 years when Crouthamel turned to MacPherson, who he had worked against while the head coach at Dartmouth.
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Dick MacPherson
Richard F. MacPherson (November 4, 1930 – August 8, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 to 1977 and at Syracuse University from 1981 to 1990, compiling a career college football record of 111–73–5. He served as a National Football League (NFL) head coach for the New England Patriots from 1991 to 1992, tallying a mark of 8–24. "Coach Mac" was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2009.
MacPherson was born on Nov. 4, 1930, in Old Town, Maine, the second youngest of 12 children. At Old Town High School, he played high school football, basketball and baseball and graduated in 1948. He enrolled at Maine Maritime Academy and then served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950 to 1954 during the Korean War.
MacPherson returned to school at Springfield College (Mass.), where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1958. He was a center and linebacker on the football team, a member of the Chiefs’ undefeated 1956 squad and served as team captain as a senior. It was at Springfield that he met his future wife, the former Sandra Jean Moffitt, when both were sophomores. His alma mater awarded him with induction into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, and he earned entry into the State of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
MacPherson's first coaching stop was at University of Illinois where he was a graduate assistant coach with the freshman team while working on his master's degree. He moved on to University of Massachusetts as freshman coach for two years and then took an assistant's post at University of Cincinnati under Coach Chuck Studley.
Lou Saban hired MacPherson at University of Maryland in 1966 and then, when the Denver Broncos selected Saban as head coach, he brought MacPherson with him to coach defense.
Named head coach at UMass in 1971, MacPherson led the Minutemen to four Yankee Conference titles in seven years. During that span, he twice claimed New England Football Coach of the Year honors. His 45 victories at Massachusetts rank him third all-time in school history, and his 28-8-1 mark in Yankee Conference games notches a .778 winning percentage, which places him fifth in league history. The first UMass coach 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.
He returned to the NFL as an assistant coach on the staff of Sam Rutigliano with the Cleveland Browns from 1978 to 1980.
MacPherson was hired as the 25th head coach at Syracuse University by then-athletics director Jake Crouthamel. Syracuse had made just one bowl appearance in the previous 14 years when Crouthamel turned to MacPherson, who he had worked against while the head coach at Dartmouth.