George Wallace MacIntyre (April 30, 1939 – January 5, 2016) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He served as the head coach at the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee, United States. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outsi ...

from 1975 to 1977 and at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

from 1979 to 1985, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 43–66–1. At Vanderbilt in 1982, he won the

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award is an annual college football award given to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision head coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The award is named for Bobby Dod ...

Biography

MacIntyre was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, and graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, in 1957 and played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

on the school football team. He then was quarterback at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

for the 1958 season. MacIntyre sat out the 1957 season due to a broken wrist and served as a backup to All-America quarterback Fran Curci in 1958 and 1959 and to Eddie Johns in 1960. For the 1960 season, MacIntyre also was the holder for

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, a ...

. In Miami's final game of 1960, against

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, MacIntyre successfully threw a touchdown pass as part of a fake field goal. This play contributed to Miami's 23–14 victory and earned MacIntyre the nickname "The Finger". After graduating from Miami, MacIntyre became an assistant football coach at Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville in 1961 and 1963 and served in the military in 1962. In 1964, MacIntyre became a football recruiting administrator at the University of Miami. He would stay at Miami until 1967 and would join the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

football coaching staff as defensive coordinator in 1968. From 1970 to 1972, MacIntyre was the

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

s coach at Clemson and then was assistant coach for Vanderbilt from 1973 to 1974. The 1974 Peach Bowl between Vanderbilt and Texas Tech ended with a 6–6 tie. MacIntyre took his first head coaching position in 1975 with Tennessee–Martin and remained head coach until 1977. In three seasons, MacIntyre had an overall 18–14 record, with a 2–8 record in 1975 and 8–3 records in both 1976 and 1977. In 1978, MacIntyre was offensive coordinator for Ole Miss (the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

). MacIntyre again became a head coach in 1979, this time with Vanderbilt, having previously been an assistant coach for Vanderbilt from 1973 to 1974. Following three losing seasons (1–10 in 1979, 2–9 in 1980, and 4–7 in 1981), Vanderbilt went 8–4 in 1982 and earned a berth in the Hall of Fame Classic. This would be Vanderbilt's only winning season with MacIntyre as coach, and MacIntyre had an overall 25–52–1 record as Vanderbilt head coach from 1979 to 1985. After the 1985 season, MacIntyre resigned from Vanderbilt, blaming the "continuing rise in academic standards, both in admissions and in the retaining of student athletes" for Vanderbilt's losing seasons. After leaving Vanderbilt, MacIntyre led a company that provided summer sales employment to college athletes until 1991, when he became head football coach and interim headmaster of Donelson Christian Academy in Nashville, the city where Vanderbilt is located. MacIntyre returned to Jacksonville in 1993 as the head coach at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville and worked his final coaching position as running backs coach at Liberty University. In 1999, MacIntyre retired from coaching after being diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. MacIntyre's son George Michael "Mike" MacIntyre has been a football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels since the 1990s and became head coach at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in 2012. George MacIntyre died on January 5, 2016, at the age of 76. At the time of his death, he was being treated for

, which he had for more than 20 years.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macintyre, George 1939 births 2016 deaths American football quarterbacks Clemson Tigers football coaches Liberty Flames football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Miami Hurricanes football players Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Andrew Jackson High School (Jacksonville) alumni Tampa Spartans football coaches UT Martin Skyhawks football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches High school football coaches in Florida High school football coaches in Tennessee Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida People with multiple sclerosis