Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre and his team are inspired by the Bill McCartney era, which included a national championship in 1990. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)
Boulder — Many Colorado football players met as a group Tuesday night to watch ESPN’s outstanding 30 for 30 documentary about the program’s rise under former coach Bill McCartney, “The Gospel According to Mac.”
“We had a bunch of guys who showed up to that, and there were a lot of them who watched it at home,” coach Mike MacIntyre said Wednesday. “They were really inspired by it. A lot of guys have talked to me about it. Whatap funny, coach Darian Hagan, he’s all over it. They go, ‘You were skinny and fast.’ They’re giving him a hard time. And they’re making fun of his Jeri Curl, too.”
MacIntyre said he watched only pieces of it because Tuesday nights are work nights for him, but he plans to watch it from beginning to end on Thursday night. MacIntyre said McCartney has been an inspiration to him, too.
“Itap really neat, having gotten to know coach McCartney in a lot closer friendship basis over the last three years,” MacIntyre said.
MacIntyre remembers McCartney’s CU teams well, and he watched their national championship year closely. MacIntyre was a defensive back at Georgia Tech in 1987 and 1988, so he had a rooting interest in 1990 when CU played Notre Dame for the national championship in the Orange Bowl. Georgia Tech also was in the running for the national title. Ultimately CU won the Associated Press national title while Georgia Tech came out No. 1 in the UPI poll. In ACC country, Georgia Tech is regarded as the 1990 national champion.
“I watched it close, because I was playing at Georgia Tech,” MacIntyre said. “Then I had graduated, and Georgia Tech was making their run, Colorado was making their run. I watched those games closely. I remember watching the Citrus Bowl, where Georgia Tech beat Nebraska that morning. So all of us Georgia Tech guys were staying up, we watched the Orange Bowl to the very end.
“We have a national championship trophy at our place (Georgia Tech) and we have a national championship trophy at our place here,” MacIntyre said. “They’re both my places, so I can claim both of them.”
