Ten years ago, Mike MacIntyre took the football field for the first time as a head coach. And, it was as the San Jose State University football head coach.
In three seasons, he elevated San Jose State University's place in the college football world to a top-25 program nationally.
"It was an opportunity of a lifetime when (athletics director) Tom Bowen and San José State offered me the job in 2010. It was an awesome experience – all the coaches and the players. It was a great family time for us and San José State made it special," said MacIntyre, now the defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis in the American Athletic Conference.
"San José State holds a special place in my heart. Those young men gave so much to us. We went from last to first pretty quick. Not a day goes by that I don't think about San José State."
MacINTYRE NAMED A NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR FOR 2012
The 2012 season was one of the best at San José State. For the first time since 1987, the Spartans won five consecutive road games on the way to a 10-win season. There was a #24 ranking in the final Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings – a first for the university.
San José State would go on to win the Military Bowl and be ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN top-25 polls – another Spartan first. MacIntyre capped off his three seasons as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Grant Teaff National Coach of the Year Award winner for the 2012 season.
Ever grateful, Coach MacIntyre and his family are thanking Spartan football, San José State University Athletics, and the community with a gift of an undisclosed amount earmarked towards the completion of the Spartan Athletics Center on the east side of CEFCU Stadium.
The Spartan Athletics Center is scheduled to be the new home for the San José State University football, women's soccer and men's soccer teams in 2023. Coach MacIntyre and his wife, Trisha, have three children - Jennifer, a speech language pathologist in the Denver, Colo., area, and sons, Jay, the wide receivers coach at the University of Tennessee Martin, and Jonston, a senior at and quarterback for Chapman University in Southern California.
STAYING CONNECTED TO SAN JOSE STATE THROUGH A "GENERATIONAL GIFT"
"Being able to help Brent Brennan and Marie Tuite is really exciting. Marie was phenomenal as the deputy A.D. and as the football liaison," said MacIntyre, who fondly remembers, too, how the Quarterback Club enthusiastically came through for the football program each spring raising money to supplement the recruiting budget. "I think the world of Marie Tuite and what she is doing (as the San José State athletics director)."
"My first fall at San José State was 'Coach Mac's' first year as a head coach. We became close colleagues as we both committed to building a winning athletics program. I still fondly remember our morning runs around Happy Hollow (Park in San José) where we brainstormed on what was needed to move our football program forward. Since that time, 'Coach Mac' has been a mentor and a dear friend. In addition, I admire the entire MacIntyre family, especially Trisha, and have faithfully followed Jennifer, Jay and Jonston. 'Coach Mac's' legacy lives on in the minds of many Spartans and this gracious gift is a testament to the powerful bond that exists between all of us," said San José State University Athletics Director Marie Tuite.
"I stay in touch with Coach Brennan. He's the head coach now and it's like it has come full circle," said MacIntyre who retained Brennan on his first staff as the wide receivers coach in 2010. "He was a phenomenal recruiter and a great coach and I can't thank him enough for that."
MacIntyre earned National "Coach of the Year" honors a second time in 2016 after leading the University of Colorado to the Buffaloes' first 10-win season in 15 years. The MacIntyre family gift to Spartan football is a generational one according to the former Spartan head coach.
"Now that the Spartan Athletics Center is getting off the ground and is happening, I want to give back to future young men and future coaches to have a better facility and to be successful. I want these young men to have this type of facility to be proud of and the young men before them to share that same pride. I had an awesome experience with our players. They meant so much to me as did Tom Bowen, Marie Tuite and John Poch."
You can join Coach MacIntyre as a Spartan Athletics Center donor. Contact Deputy Director for Athletics Advancement Rob Clark at rob.clark@sjsu.edu or call (408) 924-1175.