On Saturday, Ron McBride’s name will be forever enshrined on the west side of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The former Utah coach and wide receiver Roy Jefferson will be the latest additions to Utah football’s Ring of Honor, which was introduced last year with quarterback Alex Smith as the inaugural inductee.
McBride and Jefferson will get their time in the spotlight during halftime of the Utes’ home opener against Cal Poly (4 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
After Smith, McBride was an obvious choice to be next for the Ring of Honor, both because of his accomplishments at Utah and for the chance for the 85-year-old to get a well-deserved standing ovation.
While Urban Meyer and Kyle Whittingham took Utah’s program to new heights, the coach that laid the foundation for them was McBride.
“He really put Utah football back on the map,” Whittingham said.
McBride took over a program that had mostly been mostly mediocre in the 1980s and returned Utah to national prominence. He posted an 88-63 record during his 13-year tenure as coach — his 88 wins are third-most in program history — and had four eight-or-more-win seasons.
Prior to McBride’s arrival in 1990, BYU had won nine of the last 10 rivalry games, and though McBride lost to the Cougars in each of his first three seasons, he turned the tide, as Utah won seven of the next 11 matchups, including three straight from 1993-1995.
McBride’s Utes shared two conference championships — the WAC in 1995 and the Mountain West Conference in 1999. He also established a Polynesian recruiting pipeline that still exists to this day and helped bring back a defensive identity to the University of Utah.
“Coach Mac was responsible for the resurgence of Utah football. Did a phenomenal job recruiting, got really good players into the program. Masterful recruiter,” Whittingham said.
Twenty-one of McBride’s players were NFL draft selections, including offensive lineman Jordan Gross, running back Jamal Anderson, defensive tackle Luther Elliss and wide receiver Steve Smith Sr.
Though he never coached him — McBride was fired after the 2002 season and replaced by Meyer — McBride was one of the only Division I coaches that recognized Alex Smith’s talent and recruited him to play at Utah.
“If you just say what is Coach Mac’s strength? That was recruiting and in college, that’s the most important aspect of your job. So you can say he was the best at what was the most important. He had a great rapport with his players. Players loved him,” Whittingham said.
McBride’s high-water mark as a coach came in 1994, when the Utes returned to the AP Top 25 poll, appearing as high as No. 10, for the first time since 1947.
The team, led by quarterback Mike McCoy, wide receiver Curtis Marsh and Elliss, went 10-2, capping the season off with a Freedom Bowl win over Arizona — Utah’s first bowl win since 1964.
The Utes had a high-powered offense (their 37.3 points per game ranked No. 4 in the nation) and a stingy defense that held opponents to 17.9 points per game (No. 21 in the nation).
The season was also the debut of Whittingham on the Utah staff. The younger Whittingham coached the defensive line under his dad, Fred, who was the Utes’ defensive coordinator.
Kyle arrived at the University of Utah from Idaho State, where he was the school’s defensive coordinator, and never left, rising up the rankings and taking over as head coach in 2005.
“For me personally, he gave me my first opportunity in Division I football. I’m forever grateful for that. I got my start here at Utah, came from right up the road at Idaho State, an (FCS) program. And so he was instrumental in my path and coaching path,” Whittingham said.
“... Eternally grateful for him and what he did for me.”
Post-Utah, McBride continued to work in football. He was the linebackers coach at Kentucky for two seasons and coached Weber State from 2005-2011 (leading the Wildcats to a Big Sky conference championship in 2008). He also had a few stints in arena football, including coaching the Utah Blaze’s offensive line in 2013.
These days, McBride is involved with the “Ron McBride Foundation,” which sponsors afterschool programs at Title I schools. He’s still involved with football, making weekly appearances on the KSL Sports Zone. He also recently held a youth football camp in Maui.
“He’s meant so much to the community, not just Utah football and the university, but so active in the community and he’s a guy that is constantly giving and has done that all his life,” Whittingham said.
On Saturday, Utah and its fans will honor McBride, who paved the way for the current success of University of Utah football.
“Very well deserved, obviously deserving of his Ring of Honor induction that he’s going to be getting this week,” Whittingham said.