Jan. 13, 2003

Ron McBride, who built the University of Utah into a force on the collegiate football scene during the last 13 years, has joined Rich Brooks’ staff as an assistant coach in charge of linebackers.

As head coach of the Utes from 1990-2002, McBride compiled an 88-63 record, the second-highest win total in school history. When it comes to post-season play, McBride stands alone in Utah history. In the first 97 years of Utah football, the school played in just three bowl games. In 13 years under McBride, the Utes played in six bowl games, including bowl victories over Southern California, Arizona, and Fresno State.

Utah’s best season under McBride came in 1994, when the Utes won a school-record 10 games and attained their highest post-season rankings in school history – No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 10 in The Associated Press. The icing on the cake was a win over Arizona in the Freedom Bowl.

In conference games, Utah was 58-42 under McBride and won a share of two conference championships. In 1995, Utah tied for the Western Athletic Conference championship and in ’99 the Utes tied for the inaugural Mountain West Conference title.

McBride’s teams also fared well in rivalry games. Utah dominated the Utah State series, 11-2, while holding their own against perennial power Brigham Young. The Utes won six of their last 11 against BYU after losing 16 of 18 in the years before McBride took over the program.

McBride sent a steady stream of players into the NFL. Some of the more notable performers have included All-Pro running back Jamal Anderson of the Atlanta Falcons; Denver Broncos running back Mike Anderson, the 2000 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year; Kevin Dyson, the first wide receiver taken in the 1998 NFL Draft, who started for the Tennessee Titans in the 2000 Super Bowl; Luther Eliss, All-Pro defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions; and the Carolina Panthers’ Steve Smith, who led the NFL in kickoff returns in 2001 and was the only rookie named to the Pro Bowl team.

“Ron has established himself as a successful coach at all levels,” Brooks said. “He’s a great judge of talent as well as innovative on both sides of the ball. I’m very pleased that a man of his experience and talent has agreed to join our staff.”

An all-city football and baseball standout at Los Angeles (Calif.) South Gate High School, McBride went on to San Jose State, where he became team captain as a senior while playing football from 1959-62. He later played professional football with the San Jose Apaches of the USA League.

McBride began his collegiate coaching career at San Jose State in 1965. Successive stints as an assistant coach took him to high school, junior college, California-Riverside, California State-Long Beach, Utah, Wisconsin, Utah again, and Arizona, before landing the head coaching job with the Utes.

“While I was at Utah, I developed a great respect for Coach Brooks when we played and recruited against his Oregon teams,” McBride said. “Everybody who has worked for Coach Brooks has had nothing but good things to say and I wanted the opportunity to do that. I believe that Kentucky will be a fun place to coach and is in a league in which I would like to coach.”

McBride and his wife Vicky are the parents of four adult children, Danny, Mike, Jill, and Kelly.

Brooks now has six coaches on his staff – McBride, Steve Brown (defensive backs), Michael Gray (defensive line), Ron Hudson (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Paul Dunn (offensive line), and Joker Phillips (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator). Three more full-time assistants will be hired, along with a pair of graduate assistant coaches.

McBride Coaching Experience

1965 San Jose State Freshman Coach, defensive coordinator, linebackers1966-68 Piedmont Hills HS Assistant Coach, defensive coordinator1969-71 Gavilan Junior College Assistant Coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line1972-73 California-Riverside Assistant Coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line1974-76 California State-Long Beach Assistant Coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line1977-82 Utah Assistant Coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line1983-84 Wisconsin Assistant Coach, offensive line, one bowl game1985-86 Utah Assistant Coach, offensive line1987-88 Arizona Assistant Coach, offensive line1989 Arizona Assistant Head Coach, offensive line, one bowl game1990-2002 Utah Head Coach, six bowl games