Ed McCaffrey - Head Football Coach - Football Coaches - University of Northern Colorado Athletics

Photo by: Woody Myers

Ed McCaffrey

Title:
Head Football Coach

Ed McCaffrey was named the 16th head coach in Northern Colorado football history on December 12, 2019.

His first year as the head coach of the Bears was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a move that insured the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaching and support staff Northern Colorado opted out of the Spring 2021 season.

Once the Bears finally took the field under Coach McCaffrey's guidance in the fall of 2021 UNC went 3-8 with a 2-6 record in the Big Sky. In his first official season coaching games he helped six players earn All-Big Sky honors in David Hoage (second team), Grant Stephens (second team), Jerone Jackson (third team), Kassidy Woods (honorable mention), Jace Bobo (honorable mention) and Joe Golden (honorable mention).

McCaffrey coached UNC's first All-American since 2015 in David Hoage who earned third team by the AP and Stats Performance while being on Hero Sports Sophomore All-American.

The three-time Super Bowl champion came to UNC from Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado where he was the head coach for two seasons.

While at Valor Christian, McCaffrey led the Eagles to a 24-2 record winning the 5A state title in 2018 before making it to the quarterfinals in 2019.

McCaffrey played in the NFL for 13 seasons for the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants. He was on the Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII winning teams for the Broncos and Super Bowl XXIX with San Francisco. His best season as a pro came in 1998. He helped Denver win its second straight Super Bowl and he earned second team All-Pro recognition while being named to the Pro Bowl. In that year he made 64 receptions for 1,053 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.

He played his college ball at Stanford from 1987-90 under famous head coaches Jack Elway and Dennis Green. McCaffrey was a first team All-American and first team All-Pac 10 selection at wide receiver in his senior season. UNC Offensive Coordinator Dave Baldwin was McCaffrey's position coach at Stanford from 1987-88.

The New York Giants selected McCaffrey in the third round, 83rd pick overall, of the 1991 NFL Draft.

Upon retirement from the NFL, McCaffrey put work into his McCaffrey Family Foundation alongside his wife Lisa to assist children whose medical situation has created an academic or financial hardship.

In 2012 he became the color analyst for the Denver Broncos flagship station 850 KOA. He called games for five years before stepping down to become the head coach at Valor Christian High School in 2017.

He and Lisa, a former standout soccer player herself at Stanford, have four sons Max, Christian, Dylan and Luke. All four have gone on to play football like their dad.

Christian was an All-American running back at Stanford, finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2015. He's now an All-Pro running back for the Carolina Panthers. Max attended Duke University as a wide receiver and played in the NFL. He is currently on the Northern Colorado football staff as the Offensive Coordinator. Dylan and Luke are still in college both playing quarterback at Northern Colorado and Rice, respectively.