Gregory James McMackin (April 24, 1945 – February 14, 2023) 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 ...

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

Oregon Institute of Technology The Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) is a public college in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Seattle. Almost all s ...

from 1986 to 1989 and at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

from 2008 to 2011, 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 53–39–1. Before coming to Hawaii as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 2007, he previously served in the same capacity for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, and the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

Career

McMackin coached extensively at both the collegiate and professional levels. At the professional level, McMackin coached for two

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

teams: as defensive coordinator for the

from 1995 to 1998, and as linebackers and assistant head coach for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

from 2003 to 2005. He also coached for the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was an American football franchise in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; and were co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A ...

of the defunct

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). At the college level, McMackin gained prominence as the defense coordinator for the University of Miami for the 1993 and 1994 seasons. There, Miami won two Big East Championships and ranked first in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. Further, the Hurricanes allowed just seven touchdowns on defense in one season. While there, he coached

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...

winner Warren Sapp,

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football f ...

and six First-Team Consensus All-Americans. The Hurricanes played in the national championship game (

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

) in 1995. McMackin served as defensive coordinator at six colleges: Hawaii,

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Briefly, during the first half of the 2007 spring semester, McMackin was an instructor at Texas Tech. McMackin, previously the defensive coordinator for the Hawaii Warriors, was one of several individuals being considered to fill the vacancy left by June Jones as head coach. Jones left the Hawaii Warriors in January to become the head coach of SMU. On January 15, 2008, McMackin took over the position of head coach for the Hawaii Warriors. Upon signing his five-year contract, McMackin became the highest-paid state employee with a $1.12 million annual salary. The previous record was held by his predecessor, June Jones, with an $800,016 annual salary. On August 1, 2009 McMackin was suspended for 30 days without pay due to his use of a homophobic slur during an interview. McMackin resigned from his position of head coach for Hawaii on December 5, 2011, accepting a $600,000 buyout.

Personal life and death

McMackin died in South Dakota, on February 14, 2023, at the age of 77.

Accomplishments

* Was Head Coach at Division II Oregon Tech from 1986–89. Led team to #3 ranking and 4 winning seasons on way to 2 coach of the year awards. * In 1999, led the University of Hawaii's defense to help orchestrate the biggest single-season turnaround in NCAA football history * Named one of the nation's top coaches by American Football Magazine while at Texas Tech. * Named Big 12 Conference's top recruiter by Rivals.com * As the defensive coordinator for the

, coached seven All-Pro selections, and established a franchise-record for seven interceptions in one game. Overall, Seattle's defense improved from 30th to 8th. * As defensive coordinator for the University of Miami, McMackin's defense was ranked first in the nation in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. * Both of Hawaii's WAC championships during former coach June Jones' tenure at Hawaii came during both of McMackin's two years as defensive coordinator for Hawaii. * Authored ''Coaching the Defensive Backfield'' in 1992, which is in its seventh printing. * In 2008, McMackin became the highest paid State of Hawaii employee ($1.1 million) upon becoming the Hawaii Warriors football head coach. * Inducted in the Southern Oregon University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Notable players coached

, Miami * Warren Sapp, Miami *

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

aka The Rock, Miami *

Rohan Marley Rohan Anthony Marley (born 19 May 1972) is a Jamaican businessman and former football player. He is the son of reggae artist Bob Marley, and the father of Zion Marley, model Selah Marley, reggae artist YG Marley, and former American football pl ...

, Miami * Gill Byrd, San Jose State * Michael Sinclair, Seattle Seahawks * Jeff Ulbrich, Hawaii and San Francisco 49ers * Julian Peterson, Detroit Lions * Cortez Kennedy, Seattle Seahawks * Chad Brown, Seattle Seahawks

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Hawaii profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMackin, Greg 1945 births 2023 deaths American football defensive backs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Southern Oregon Raiders football players Stanford Cardinal football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Utah Utes football coaches Denver Gold coaches High school football coaches in Oregon People from Springfield, Oregon Western Oregon Wolves football coaches NFL defensive coordinators Aloha High School alumni