Colorado to honor greatest coach in program history with statue

The Colorado Buffaloes had their annual Black & Gold Spring Game at Folsom Field on Saturday, where fans were able to get a look at a Buffs squad that will be much different in 2025 than it was a year ago. Despite the importance of the quarterback battle and other new faces on the field, the announcements outside of the game were the most important aspects of the day.

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter had their jerseys retired before the game kicked off, becoming just the fifth and sixth players in program history to have their jersey retired. Along with the retirement, the university also announced that the late Bill McCartney would be having a statue built in his honor outside Folsom Field.

The Colorado Buffaloes just announced the school will be building a statue for the late, great Bill McCartney, which will be ready heading into the 2025 season #CUBuffs

— Trent Finnegan (@trent_finnegan2) April 19, 2025

This will be the second statue outside of Folsom Field, as Fred Folsom has a bust outside of the south end of the stadium.

“Coach Mac’s imprint on this university transcends his incredible accomplishments on the football field,” CU Athletic Director Rick George. “This statue and the scholarship created in his honor will stand as a permanent monument to those accomplishments and the many lives he touched during and after his time as head football coach. It also further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to honoring CU football’s illustrious past.”

McCartney spent 13 years as the head coach at Colorado (1982-1994), bringing the school its only National Championship in 1990 when the Buffs went 11-1-1 and defeated Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. He didn’t have a winning season in his first three seasons, and his future looked grim, but the program instilled trust in him, and he managed to make the Freedom Bowl in 1985.

The Buffaloes won three consecutive Big Eight Championships from 1989 to 1991 with McCartney at the helm of the program. They made two Orange Bowls and two Fiesta Bowls, winning one of each, including the 1990 Orange Bowl that gave the Buffs a share of the title. He coached Rashaan Salaam, the first Buff to win the Heisman Trophy (1994), he was on the sideline for the Miracle at Michigan, and brought the late Sal Aunese to Boulder, who was poised to be one of the greatest players in program history before cancer took his life in 1989.

Coach Mac retired after the 1994 season. He is the all-time leader in Colorado football history for wins (93), games coached (153) and conference wins (58). He recently passed away in January at the age of 84.

The statue will be along the Buff Walk on the east side of Folsom Field and will stand at 8.5 feet tall. It will be unveiled before a home game in the fall.

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