2015 was a difficult year for Buffaloes head coach Mike MacIntyre, whose on-field challenges paled in comparison to the ones he was facing at home.
For the past few years, MacIntyre’s father, mentor and idol, George MacIntyre, had been fighting a battle with multiple sclerosis, and prior to CU’s Pac-12 opener versus the Oregon Ducks, he learned that both he and his mother-in-law had been admitted into a hospital in Nashville.
In the midst of his third season at the University of Colorado, MacIntyre was not able to make it back home to Nashville, making the situation all the more painful.
On Tuesday, George MacIntyre passed away.
For his entire life, Mike MacIntyre has looked up to his father, who spent his career as a football coach from 1961 to 1998, including seven season at the University of Vanderbilt, where he coached Mike for two seasons.
“George MacIntyre made a significant contribution to the history of Vanderbilt football,” former Vandy athletic director Roy Kramer said on the school’s website. “He arrived at a time when the program was down and he brought excitement back to the campus and city.
“He was an extremely solid human being. He had concern for his players and was committed to them more than simply being their coach. He cared about their lives. He brought the qualities of honesty, integrity and character that made him successful on and off the field of play. He was involved with the Nashville community and even though he struggled with ill health in the later stages of his life he always kept a twinkle in his eye.”
For the MacIntyre family, football has always been an integral part of life, but it is in days like this where we realize that life is so much bigger than just one game.
If you’d like to send your support and condolences to coach MacIntyre and his family, you can address them to:
Colorado Football, 368 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0368
