ONEONTA _ Former Syracuse University and New England Patriots football coach Dick MacPherson applauded the Oneonta High School Football Booster Club in a brief but spirited speech Sunday.
Introduced by one of his former players, Tim Pidgeon of Oneonta, MacPherson quoted Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain as he gave anecdotes from his more than three decades of coaching during the club's annual banquet at the Holiday Inn.
"He was a father figure to a lot of players," said Pidgeon, an assistant coach for the Oneonta varsity team and a Syracuse alumnus.
More than 200 Oneonta players, coaches, family members and friends filled the conference room at the Holiday Inn and MacPherson took note of this during his dinner before the speech.
"I think this shows how much they like football," MacPherson, 78, said. "It's great for the kids."
MacPherson paid special attention to the stunning victory Saturday by Syracuse over Notre Dame.
"I was so damn glad for the kids. Nothing could be sweeter," MacPherson said.
MacPherson, a radio analyst for the Orange, said he continues to have close ties with Syracuse and still travels with the team. He coached the Orange from 1980 to 1990, and his tenure there included an undefeated season in 1987. Previously, he had stints as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos in the NFL and was a head coach for the University of Massachusetts. He left college ball for two seasons as the head coach for the New England Patriots beginning in 1991.
MacPherson offered the Yellow Jackets players and booster club members some of the advice he gave his own players over the years.
"Don't worry about what people say to you before the game; it's what they say to you after the game," McPherson said.
Quoting Twain, he said: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
He also read lines from Kipling's poem "Gunga Din," which he had used to motivate his players.
The banquet was held Sunday to recognize varsity and junior varsity players and raise money for the booster club, which, among other activities, offers scholarships to graduating football players and cheerleaders.
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