The football world lost one of it’s truly great members in Dave (Coach Mac) McGinnis. Coach Mac had a 44 year coaching career at the collegiate and NFL level including 31 years in the NFL with the Bears, Cardinals, Titans and Rams. He was the Cardinals Head Coach from 2000-03. After leaving the NFL he had a successful career as a broadcaster with the Titans and podcasts. He was also a great friend of Ourlads. He was one of a kind and you never met a more personable, kind and caring individual. When he was let go by the Cardinals his biggest concern was the fate of his assistant coaches. The NFL’s a tough business but he still showed concern for the families. Dave was as genuine as they come and wore his emotions on his sleeve. He always gave credit and never forgot the mentors and staff members he had coached with along the way. That group includes, Vince Tobin, Mike Ditka and Jeff Fisher. His players and staff members loved him and had their utmost respect. Mike Singletary, Pat Tillman, Aeneas Williams, Ron Rivera and Chuck Cecil were among the many players and assistant coaches he had a major impact on. When Pat Tillman was killed in action, Coach Mac delivered an emotional eulogy. What follows are my personal recollections of a good friend.
I first met Coach Mac in 1986 when three members of the new Aurora University football program’s staff visited the Bears training camp. We were standing behind the ropes like everyone else watching drills. Coach Mac was in his first year in the NFL with the Bears and was working with linebackers. During a break he noticed our staff shirts and walked over and introduced himself. As former high school coaches we didn’t realize college coaches were often guests of NFL teams during training camp. He said “I’m David McGinnis” and asked about our program. He then told us we shouldn’t be outside the lines and took us to a scout that was in charge of the visitation program. We were taken aback that he would take the time to be interested in us. We exchanged cards and were invited to Halas hall in Lake Forest to “talk ball” as Coach Mac loved to say. We took him up on it and a few years later he called me to invite us to a clinic for college coaches the Bears were putting on in a hotel near O’Hare. The clinic was a way of reaching out to college coaches that were in the Chicago area for May recruiting. (That’s the way it was in the 1990s) The Bears coaches would speak on Sunday night and on Monday they would have college assistant coaches speak. Dave and pro scout Mike McCartney were in charge of the clinic. It was terrific for college coaches as you were with coaches at all levels from all over the country. Some great young coaches spoke including Sean Payton and John Harbaugh. The clinic was an annual event while Coach Mac was there and lasted until about 2001. It was during those clinics I got to know Coach Mac. We would talk ball in between sessions and when I got involved with Ourlads he took an interest in that.
I started going to the combine after meeting Dan Shonka and we spent some time there. When he went to Arizona we stayed in touch and I continued to make treks to the Cardinals training camp that started when Jim Johnson was with the Cardinals. When Mike Singletary went into the Hall of Fame we were at the Cardinals camp and Mike praised Dave as being the coach that got him where he was. Dave had a touching emotional reaction as Cardinal players and coaches watched during a team meeting. I also started going to the Senior Bowl and there were times we made arrangements to get on the same flight
out of Atlanta to Mobile. We would sit and talk about players the whole time. He had his sporting news list of prospects along with an Ourlad’s newsletter. I always made sure he got the guide each spring and he always said “tell Shonk, great job and thanks! For years we had a tradition of going out to lunch at the Senior Bowl and the combine. Often other coaches and scouts would join us. While at Benedictine I still went to the combine for a couple of days mainly to see Jim Johnson and Coach Mac.
When coach Mac was up for the Bears job in 1999 he told me he wanted me in some capacity. I had coached against Leslie Frazier for several years and we had become friends. He had asked me to talk to Jim Johnson for him as Jim had just taken the DC job with the Eagles. I called Leslie to tell him how the conversation went and told him I just heard on the radio Coach Mac was the new Bears coach. Leslie had also been talking to coach Mac about going with him to the Bears and called Dave to congratulate him. That was news to Dave and set off a fire storm. The rest is history. I almost went with him to the Cardinals but that’s another story. When he left the Cardinals we stayed in touch and would still get together. He would call out of the blue and say “Coop, Coach Mac, hope everything’s good brother!” I still have some messages on my phone not to be erased. The amazing thing was how many friends he had. Some 3800 names in his contacts. Great story teller and some of the funniest football stories you ever heard. He told of training camp pranks, players and coaches he loved and just about anything to do with football. If you were associated with football and you met him he was your friend and wouldn’t forget you.
An example of Dave’s kindness was when I was at Benedictine and old friend football alum Don Heldmann stopped by. Don coached at Fenwick HS well into his 70s and had told me how much he admired Coach Mac. I immediately called Dave and said I have Don Heldmann here and he’d love to talk to you. He spent a good twenty minutes on the phone and Don was beaming. Don stopped by a few more times and each time I got Dave on the phone. After retiring as a coach and later expanding my role with Ourlad’s Dave was a big help providing a cross check for us on players. He was doing SEC podcasts and studied the players. A couple of years ago we had some young scouts (including current Ourlad’s scouts Dave Syvertsen and Hayden Russell) going to the Senior Bowl and later the combine and I asked Coach Mac to meet with them. He did and spent an hour. He gave them his phone number and said call if you need anything. All came away saying how kind and generous he was with his time. My last conversations with Coach Mac were while he was in the hospital fighting renal failure. It was emotional for me hearing coach struggle. We’ll never forget him as he was truly right at the top as one of the good guys. RIP coach Mac and God Bless!