Richard MacPherson

Few men haveh ad the variety of experience accumulated by Old Town native Dick MacPherson - with high marks all along for the man who's led Syracuse University back to the gridiron respectability.

In his fourth season at Syracuse last fall, Mac had turned things around to the extent that the Orange knocked off the mighty Nebraska, 17-9, when the Cornhuskers were rated number one in the country.

Leading uo to his spotlighted post in the Carrier Dome was a course that took the pride of Canoe City literally all over the country after starring as a player at Old Town High and the Maine Maritime Academy in the 1940s and at Springfield COllege after a tour in the U.S. Air Force.

He earned three letters at center for Springfield and captained the Redmen in 1957.

There followed stints as freshman coach at Illinois; freshman football coach and head wrestling coach at the University of Massachusetts; freshman grid coach; offensive line coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati; and University of Maryland defensive backfield coach.

Next he spent four years as defensive aide with the Denver Broncos. All this well-prepared Mac for his sparkling seven year career as head coach back at the University of Massachusetts. His Minutemen compiled a 45-27-1 overall record from 1971-'77 that included four Yankee Conference Championships. His 1972 champs won the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bowl.

MacPherson was New England College Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1977, and the American Football Coaches Association District One Coach of the Year in 1977.

Mac went back to the pros for three years as linebacker coach for the Cleveland Browns and thence to Syracuse.

It took two building seasons before the first winning campaign, 6-5, came in 1983, followed by another 6-5 winning record in 1984. In rebuilding Syracuse football, part and parcel of the MacPherson process is the good will that he's engendered as he freely meets with students, alumni, other fans, booster clubs, youth groups, and the community at large.

In 1984 he was honored for his many contributions to the city by receiving the Syracuse Mayor's Achievement Award.

In short, as the Syracuse game football programs states, ". . . a whirlwind of activity . . . the New Englander has made many friends for Syracuse in a short span of time."

Dick and his wife, the former Sandra Moffit of Calais, live in Syracuse with their two daughters, Maureen and Janet.