Grizzly Athletics remembers the life of legendary coach Don Read
1/5/2024 10:48:00 AM | Football
The Montana Grizzlies lost a beloved coach, mentor, and friend on Wednesday, while the football world lost a true innovator of the game when legendary head coach Don Read passed away at the age of 90 in Oregon.
Read, who led Montana to the program's first national championship in 1995, died just days before the Grizzlies compete in the program's eighth national championship game. It's a legacy of success Read played a large part in creating.
"When I think of Don Read, I think of the man who laid the foundation of what we enjoy today. He took a stadium that had just been built and gave everyone a reason to get in their cars and come to Grizzly football games. That's really the legacy he leaves," said director of athletics Kent Haslam.
Read coached at Montana from 1986 to 1995, leading the Grizzlies to a pair of Big Sky Conference championships and 10-straight winning seasons, starting a streak of 25 winning seasons for the Grizzlies. He then returned to UM in 2004 and 2005 to serve as Athletic Director.
"He was always so gracious, humble, and focused on what was best for the University of Montana," Haslam added.
"He was always supportive, but not invasive. He never wanted to push himself into anything he didn't need to be in which is really admirable. He was just a really classy, genuinely humble guy."
On the field, Read was known as a progressor of the passing game, installing a high-flying passing attack that set still-standing school records and literally wrote the book on aerial offense – Complete Quarterbacking, published in 2002.
Off the field, he was known as a player's coach, able to connect with his athletes on a personal level, and was an affable colleague to his assistants, athletic department staff, and the University of Montana community.
He influenced the lives and careers of many future Grizzly coaches. Among them is current head coach Bobby Hauck, who got his start in coaching under Read as a student at UM.
"Coach Read was a great man, and God bless him and his family. He affected so many lives in his career. Not only was he a great football coach, he was also a great mentor. Certainly, he meant a whole lot to the Montana football program and the state of Montana. He'll be missed," said Hauck, who passed Read's career win total of 85 to become UM's winningest coach of all time in 2018.
"Coach had a huge impact on me and my career. He got me into coaching to start with and then when he came back as the athletic director we got to work together again. That was a special time and really any time with that guy was special."
When Read came to Montana in 1986 he took over a team that had gone 3-8 the previous season. He then named Brent Pease starting quarterback and the Grizzlies would go on to their first winning season in five years.
Pease would go on to set records at Montana and would become the first Grizzly QB drafted in the NFL. He'd later join Read's staff as an offensive assistant, and after a career that has taken him to the highest levels of college football, he's returned to Montana and now serves as Hauck's offensive coordinator.
"I was just completely saddened to hear of Coach Read's passing. I was with him through hard times, and I was with him through good times. He was always the most positive, inspirational guy to players, coaches, and the community." said Pease.
"I was fortunate enough to get to know him on two different levels. As a player, he definitely gave me inspiration, gave our team hope, and really established what Griz football is today. I think he put a belief in the players, the community, and the athletic department that gave us something where we saw what this thing could do.
"I was also fortunate enough to see him on the other side in coaching. He's the one that came to me when I was done playing football and said we've got an opening and asked if I'd like to come and work for us and help us out. So, he gave me that opportunity and gave me the understanding that coaching football is all about teaching kids, and that's what it takes to win."
Chad Germer was an All-America center under Read and later joined the Grizzly coaching staff when he helped guide his alma mater to the 2001 national championship. After stops at Wyoming and UNLV, he's also currently back at Montana coaching the centers and guards on Hauck's staff.
He was part of Read's teams that put together three consecutive 10-win seasons and went 10-0 against rival Montana State.
For Germer, it was Read's personal touch that helped his teams to astronomical success, and since his passing Germer and his teammates have reconnected to remember how the Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer touched their lives.
"Coach Read meant so much to all the guys in that era. He had a wonderful demeanor and was a guy you really believed in. He would say the simplest things and you believed him, and he said it over and over and it really sunk in. He was a guy you really wanted to play for," Germer said.
"Obviously we were in shock, but it's been good to reflect. When a great man like that passes a lot of guys from that era, many I haven't heard from in so long, have touched base to celebrate his life. He just touched so many people."
Read was born Dec. 15, 1933, in Los Angeles. He played college football at Sacramento State. He also coached at Portland State, Oregon, and Oregon Tech before retiring from full-time coaching after his time at Montana.
Read, who led Montana to the program's first national championship in 1995, died just days before the Grizzlies compete in the program's eighth national championship game. It's a legacy of success Read played a large part in creating.
"When I think of Don Read, I think of the man who laid the foundation of what we enjoy today. He took a stadium that had just been built and gave everyone a reason to get in their cars and come to Grizzly football games. That's really the legacy he leaves," said director of athletics Kent Haslam.
Read coached at Montana from 1986 to 1995, leading the Grizzlies to a pair of Big Sky Conference championships and 10-straight winning seasons, starting a streak of 25 winning seasons for the Grizzlies. He then returned to UM in 2004 and 2005 to serve as Athletic Director.
"He was always so gracious, humble, and focused on what was best for the University of Montana," Haslam added.
"He was always supportive, but not invasive. He never wanted to push himself into anything he didn't need to be in which is really admirable. He was just a really classy, genuinely humble guy."
On the field, Read was known as a progressor of the passing game, installing a high-flying passing attack that set still-standing school records and literally wrote the book on aerial offense – Complete Quarterbacking, published in 2002.
Off the field, he was known as a player's coach, able to connect with his athletes on a personal level, and was an affable colleague to his assistants, athletic department staff, and the University of Montana community.
He influenced the lives and careers of many future Grizzly coaches. Among them is current head coach Bobby Hauck, who got his start in coaching under Read as a student at UM.
"Coach Read was a great man, and God bless him and his family. He affected so many lives in his career. Not only was he a great football coach, he was also a great mentor. Certainly, he meant a whole lot to the Montana football program and the state of Montana. He'll be missed," said Hauck, who passed Read's career win total of 85 to become UM's winningest coach of all time in 2018.
"Coach had a huge impact on me and my career. He got me into coaching to start with and then when he came back as the athletic director we got to work together again. That was a special time and really any time with that guy was special."
When Read came to Montana in 1986 he took over a team that had gone 3-8 the previous season. He then named Brent Pease starting quarterback and the Grizzlies would go on to their first winning season in five years.
Pease would go on to set records at Montana and would become the first Grizzly QB drafted in the NFL. He'd later join Read's staff as an offensive assistant, and after a career that has taken him to the highest levels of college football, he's returned to Montana and now serves as Hauck's offensive coordinator.
"I was just completely saddened to hear of Coach Read's passing. I was with him through hard times, and I was with him through good times. He was always the most positive, inspirational guy to players, coaches, and the community." said Pease.
"I was fortunate enough to get to know him on two different levels. As a player, he definitely gave me inspiration, gave our team hope, and really established what Griz football is today. I think he put a belief in the players, the community, and the athletic department that gave us something where we saw what this thing could do.
"I was also fortunate enough to see him on the other side in coaching. He's the one that came to me when I was done playing football and said we've got an opening and asked if I'd like to come and work for us and help us out. So, he gave me that opportunity and gave me the understanding that coaching football is all about teaching kids, and that's what it takes to win."
Chad Germer was an All-America center under Read and later joined the Grizzly coaching staff when he helped guide his alma mater to the 2001 national championship. After stops at Wyoming and UNLV, he's also currently back at Montana coaching the centers and guards on Hauck's staff.
He was part of Read's teams that put together three consecutive 10-win seasons and went 10-0 against rival Montana State.
For Germer, it was Read's personal touch that helped his teams to astronomical success, and since his passing Germer and his teammates have reconnected to remember how the Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer touched their lives.
"Coach Read meant so much to all the guys in that era. He had a wonderful demeanor and was a guy you really believed in. He would say the simplest things and you believed him, and he said it over and over and it really sunk in. He was a guy you really wanted to play for," Germer said.
"Obviously we were in shock, but it's been good to reflect. When a great man like that passes a lot of guys from that era, many I haven't heard from in so long, have touched base to celebrate his life. He just touched so many people."
Read was born Dec. 15, 1933, in Los Angeles. He played college football at Sacramento State. He also coached at Portland State, Oregon, and Oregon Tech before retiring from full-time coaching after his time at Montana.
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