(my apologies for any inaccuracies attributable to age and infirmity
Heck of an entertaining man. When I was a freshman at WSU, I'd wait for the QB Club meetings to stop serving food then sneak in to listen to Sweeney expound on all of the events of the previous Saturday's games. One year, we were leading the league, if not the nation, in fumbles with our triple option offense. Sweeney took lots of grief from the press and boosters about that. Sweeney had game film and with some glee showed a play where Ty Paine took the snap and handed off to Ken Grandberry. It wasn't a good exchange and Ken booted the ball left. Paine saw it and scooped up the ball but didn't get a good handle and sent the ball bouncing toward the sideline. Bernard Jackson was carrying out his fake as the wide option man to the left and caught the ball on a bounce just before it hit the sideline. Jackson scooted down the sideline for a 30 yard touchdown and to uproarious laughter from the gathering, Sweeney quipped, "We've been working on that fake fumble play all year and it finally clicked."Another favorite Sweeney moment was the day Don Sweet kicked a game ending field goal to upset Jim Plunkett and Stanford and put the Cougars smack dab in the middle of the race for the Rose Bowl. Memories can be blurred with time, but I swear the parking lot in front of Bohler was crowded with 10,000 students as the team bus pulled in that night from the airport. Sweeney stepped off the bus all red-faced and teary eyed, stood in silent appreciation as the crowd cheered, then said "Open up the damn Gym, we're having a pep rally." Soon the gym doors swung open and Sweeney held court before a packed Bohler crowd. He introduced every single Cougar player and said a few words about each. When he got to Don Sweet, he had to hesitate to keep from bawling. Great Cougar moment.
I later moved to Fresno where Sweeney was head coach in the late 80's and early 90's. I started attending the Bulldog QB club lunches just for the entertainment. Of course all the songs Sweeney used to lead the crowd in in Pullman, were used in Fresno, just substituting Bulldog for Cougar. I got to meet Jim and introduced myself as one of the only people other than him to have spent time in Butte, Mt., Pullman, Wa., St. Louis, Mo. and Fresno. I got to know him from a distance and on several opportunities was privileged to fly with the Bulldogs to away games, one in Pullman which the Cougs won and I could just not properly celebrate on the plane ride back to Fresno. I had purchased a new Cougar jacket and out of deference to Jim and the Bulldogs, I placed duct tape over the Cougar logo for the plane ride home. Jim saw that and gave me a smile and a wink. I am happy to say that I traveled to LA for the Bulldogs and Sweeney's signature 24-7 win over USC in the Freedom Bowl. I couldn't help but remember something Sweeney had said about John McKay. "McKay's an idiot. Anybody who coaches in LA, plays 8 games a year in the Colosseum and can recruit 125 of the best scholarship athletes in the country and not win the National Championship every year is an idiot."
There are many other stories I could tell, but I'll stop with this one. In 1972, Martin Stadium had been rebuilt after the fire and Stanford came to town for only the second conference game to be played in the rebuilt stadium. Sweeney held a pep rally in Martin the night before the game. He concluded his talk with this story. Earlier that evening he had proudly opened the gate to the Stadium for the Stanford team to enter for their walk-throughs. He said the Stanford players walked past him and he was bragging about having them in Pullman for the first time in a few years and was happy to show off the new digs. He said that as they walked past, they started whistling the tune to "Mickey Mouse." He was livid and tearfully encouraged us to all show up and show them exactly who was "Mickey Mouse" the next day. I don't know what kind of pre-game and halftime speeches he gave to the team, but, as it turned out, the Cougs beat the Indians 27-13 on the strength of two late 1st and goal fourth quarter goal line stands where the Cougs held the Indians scoreless. After the second of the miracle 4 down stops the most spine tingling event of my Cougar years unfolded. It started somewhere low in the student section. It was first a single student, then his friends. The cheerleaders heard picked up on it and joined using their microphones. It spread throughout the section and soon we were all whistling "Mickey Mouse" to the chagrin of those wise ass Stanford geniuses. Just freaking AWESOME.
RIP Sweeney, we remember only your best. You knew and loved every player who ever played for you. You could rattle off their hometowns, the names of their Mom's, Dad's, siblings and high school coaches. You knew their GPAs. You remained engaged with them and helped them decades after they left the field. You shamelessly promoted them for roster spots, jobs and coaching positions. Many of them succeeded mainly from knowing you. You played no small part in giving the football world Bill Moos, Joe Tiller, Hugh Campbell, Mike Price, Lane Kiffin, Jack Elway, Leon Burtnett, Sonny Lubick, Dennis Erickson, Jeff Tedford, Claude Gilbert and the dozens of head coaches and administrators taught by you through those mentors. http://coachingroots...y/coaching-tree" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; You were "Coach" in all of the good senses of the word. All those who knew you got mad with you, laughed with you, cried with you, drank with you, rejoiced and grieved with you. They got the full ride. I wish you had guided the Cougs through the 70's, 80's and into the 90's. I wish you had built a new stadium in Pullman instead of Fresno. You are a great Coug and will be forever.
In a great display of love and admiration, a public memorial service will be held on Jim Sweeney Field in Bulldog Stadium on the Fresno State University Campus on Saturday at 2pm.
Sweeney_t620.jpg?161ad8e426d1312361ed589
