OGDEN -- Football has been Ron McBride's life.
"I have no idea what I'll do without football because I don't know anything else," the 72-year-old Weber State coach said Tuesday as he announced his retirement. "That's what I've done. I don't have hobbies."
McBride will walk away after coaching the final two games of the season, making Saturday's 1:30 p.m. contest against Northern Arizona his final home game at Stewart Stadium.
"I've coached in every conference in the country over the last 50 years. It's been a great ride," McBride said. "The only thing I've known over the last 60 years is football only. That's really been my whole life. I really don't know what the other life is. The reality is that it's all about the players, so the reason I've come to this decision -- and it's my decision, nobody else's decision -- is that I looked at the program, and all the players are in the right classes, the program is exactly where it needs to be, and I just feel like they need a new voice at the top.
"The only thing that is important to me at this point is the success of Weber State. I built this program, we built this program with what we had in mind. Everything is in place, and now we just need somebody to take it to the next step."
McBride said he will continue on in some role at Weber State, though the specifics are undetermined.
Weber State athletics director Jerry Bovee said McBride would have liked to quietly walk away at the end of the season, but he felt it was important to make the announcement Tuesday to give fans a chance to say goodbye.
"Today is really about the celebration of a coaching legend," Bovee said. "Doing this today was important to our program so our fans have an opportunity to be here and celebrate his career with him. It's important to us as an institution and a program to make sure he has an opportunity to get the credit he deserves. Where we go forward from here will be determined another day, but really today is a day that needs to be what it is -- this is coach Mac's day."
McBride, who is in his 20th season as a Division I coach, has a career record of 129-101, and is 41-38 in seven seasons at Weber State.
Comments