Chalk another one up for Miami University (Ohio), aptly coined the "Cradle of Coaches."
The Mid-American Conference school has produced legendary football figures such as Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman, Earl "Red" Blaik, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian and current Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
It was also the college stomping grounds of former San Francisco 49ers vice president and director of football operations, John McVay, who collaborated with coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert, along with owner Eddie DeBartolo, to build one of the NFL's great dynasties.
The 49ers announced Monday that McVay will be the 24th inductee into the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ersHall of Fame. The ceremony will take place Saturday, October 12, 2013, to honor the 1989 NFL Executive of the Year.
Hired after the 49ers' 2-14 debacle in 1978, McVay was instrumental in landing Hall of Famer Joe Montana. Walsh had McVay check in with Notre Dame assistant coach Bill Gruden (Jon's father) to determine why Montana had dropped to the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft. Gruden's response was short and sweet: "Just take him."
"I had a lot of different titles," McVay told the Canton Repository in January, "but I functioned as general manager basically from Day 1 until 23 years later when I left."
McVay oversaw a front office that acquired Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Roger Craig and John Taylor among others. He's quick to deflect credit, deferring to Walsh as the true genius. But McVay was one of the unsung heroes of the NFL's glory team of the 1980s.
As Walsh once said, "It's quite possible that the 49erswould not have won five Super Bowls had it not been for John McVay.
The Around The League Podcast is now available on iTunes! Click here to listen and subscribe.
