Gregory James McMackin (born April 24, 1945) is a retired

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

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

Oregon Institute of Technology The Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) is a public polytechnic university in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem and Seattle. Oregon Tec ...

from 1986 to 1989 and at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

from 2008 to 2011, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 53–39–1. Before coming to Hawaii as

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

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, 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 Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

, 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. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

Career

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

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

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) 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 of the league's National ...

from 2003 to 2005. He also coached for the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...

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.Player Bio: Greg McMackin :: Football
/ref> 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 Lombar ...

winner

Warren Sapp Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp played college football at Miami, where h ...

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who played as a Linebacker#Middle linebacker, middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in th ...

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. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

) in 1995. McMackin has 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. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. 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 June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 19 ...

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,

, with an $800,016 annual salary.''Honolulu Advertiser:'' McMackin accepts UH head coaching job
/ref> 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.

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.University of Hawai'i - Office of Intercollegiate Athletics
/ref> * 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

' 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 *

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

aka The Rock, Miami *

Rohan Marley Rohan Anthony Marley (born 19 May 1972) is a Jamaican entrepreneur and former football player. He is the son of reggae artist Bob Marley and Janet Hunt, and father of model Selah Marley and football player Nico Marley. He was born during his fa ...

, Miami * Gill Byrd, San Jose State * Michael Sinclair, Seattle Seahawks *

Jeff Ulbrich Jeffery Wade Ulbrich (; born February 17, 1977) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Hawaii and was dra ...

, Hawaii and San Francisco 49ers *

Julian Peterson Julian Thomas Peterson (born July 28, 1978) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He pl ...

, Detroit Lions *

Cortez Kennedy Cortez Kennedy (August 23, 1968 May 23, 2017) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for his entire 11-season career with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro ...

, Seattle Seahawks * Chad Brown, Seattle Seahawks

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Hawaii profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMackin, Greg 1945 births Living people 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 United States Football League coaches High school football coaches in Oregon People from Springfield, Oregon Western Oregon Wolves football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators