MacIntyre Honored At FWAA/Eddie Robinson Reception

                TAMPA – University of Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre told the audience here Saturday night about a neat little flashback he had after he was informed he had won the Eddie Robinson Award for the national coach of the year, which is presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).

                "I had an 'ah ha' moment when I got the call," he told the invited audience of about 100 special guests and FWAA members. "I literally flashed back to when I was 19. My dad called me and told me to come down to the practice field. He wanted to introduce me to Eddie Robinson."

                His father, George MacIntyre, was head coach at Vanderbilt at the time. Grambling, Robinson's school, used to play Tennessee State in Nashville in Vandy' stadium because it was bigger, and if the Commodores were at home on a Saturday, Grambling and TSU would play on Friday night.

                The elder MacIntyre and Robinson had become good friends because of the arrangement, and he wanted his son, a player for him at the time, to meet the legendary coach and understand what he was all about.

                Robinson's grandson, Eddie III, presented MacIntyre with the award, a large bust of his father's head which the family has come to call, "The Eddie."   He said he did some research on CU's Coach Mac and cited many similarities he thought he had with his late grandfather, most notably his love for his players and his desire to serve as a mentor to teach lessons in life as opposed to just making it all about wins and losses.

                "The thing that Coach Robinson represents to me is the fact that young people today are still influenced by him," MacIntyre said. "Wins are nice and obviously important, but you want to hear from them well after they're playing days are over and that you had an impact on them.

                "You hear it all the time, but I really mean it – this is a team award," he added. "Our assistant coaches and support staff did a wonderful job, and it still goes back to the 15th day of practice (in August). I realized that day that I knew we were going to be a very good football team. I put it out there to the media that our goal was to win the Pac-12 Championship, because if they could see it, they could achieve it."

                FWAA executive director Steve Richardson presented MacIntyre with the award, and then called up Steve Hatchell, CEO of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame, to the podium. Hatchell, a 1970 CU graduate, then honored "Mac" by leading the room in CU's Fight Song … though only a select few knew some of the words to join in.

                Saturday's event was the first of whirlwind week ahead for MacIntyre. He will be in ESPN studios on Monday with several other head coaches offering analysis on that night's national championship game between Alabama and Clemson. He then will head to similar events in Nashville, Houston and New Haven, Conn., with some recruiting stops in-between.

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