BOULDER — Former CU football coach Bill McCartney, who was the focus of an ESPN documentary last week, met with the media before Saturday’s game against Stanford. He shared his thoughts on the film, “The Gospel According to Mac,” gave current coach Mike MacIntyre a strong vote of confidence and glowed while talking about grandson Derek McCartney, who plays defensive end on this team.
On the way the documentary turned out:
“I was thrilled with the way it turned out. I’ve had enough controversy. I thought they did a really good job of balancing faith and football. They’re coming from out of town. I didn’t know where they were coming from. When it was over, I was relieved.”
On the affection his players showed him in the documentary:
“When you get out of coaching, you get disconnected. I hadn’t seen those guys, for the most part, and I didn’t know what was in their hearts. When they came to my house that day, I was ready for anything. It really blessed me to hear the way they look back. When I was coaching here, I was demanding. I came from Bo Schembechler. … He was a disciplinarian. He was a Woody Hayes disciple. When I came here, that’s who I was. So, for the players to adjust to that, because they don’t get that in high school, and then look back on it the way they did, that really surprised me and really encouraged me.”
On current coach Mike Mac Intyre’s struggles in rebuilding the program:
“What Coach MacIntyre’s going through, I went through. My first three years, we won seven games. We had to start over. When you keep turning over coaches, what people don’t realize, what the media doesn’t realize, in my opinion, is you have to start over. Let’s say I come into your home and recruit your son and I tell you the plans that we have for him, and then they fire me. What does that do to that kid and that family? They don’t know who to trust. … When you keep turning over coaches, you undermine it.
“I think we’ve got the right guy. Stick with him, believe in him and watch. What I see in him is a really fine man who is a man of his word and who loves football. I’m ready to take our time and let this thing get built the right way, and then in the Pac-12 we can be competitive for the foreseeable future. Right now, we’re building something.”
On grandson Derek McCartney, a CU defensive end:
“He hung the moon. He’s studying to be a doctor, he’s humble, he’s gracious, he’s a great kid, he’s a team player, he loves being a Buffalo. All those things are just a treat for me to watch this unfold. I just think Derek is a dynamo.”
