Former head football coach of the University of Colorado, “Coach Mac” as he is known is the former president and founder of Promise Keepers, the international men’s ministry dedicated to introducing men to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and then helping them to grow as Christians.

Bill has always loved coaching beginning with high school basketball teams in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan. He used his same gifts with football, becoming the only high school football coach ever hired by University of Michigan coaching legend Bo Schembechler. After nine years as an assistant, Bill was hired as head coach at the University of Colorado.

In 1982, Coach Mac inherited a team that was ranked 110th in NCAA division 1 football. With patience, optimism, and a plan Mac steadily improved the CU Buffs winning record. Then in 1988, the Buffaloes star quarterback, Sal Aunese, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Aunesse died in the middle of the 1989 season. Dedicating the season to their fallen comrade, the Buffaloes roared through their fall schedule and beat every regular season opponent including ranked teams Washington, Illinois, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. When the final regular season poll for 1989 was released, the Colorado Buffaloes had taken only seven years to be ranked number one in the country.

During his time as a football coach “Coach Mac” led the University of Colorado to a share of the national championship in 1990. In 1996, he was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame and in 1999 he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored as the Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year in 1985, 1989, and 1990 and also won National Coach of the Year Honors in 1989.

God however had another honor in mind. It was also in 1990 when Bill had a dream of filling stadiums with Christian men praising God. Later that year, 72 men gathered for the first Promise Keepers meeting. In 1991 Promise Keepers held a gathering of 4,200 men at the University of Colorado’s basketball arena. The next two years, the organization held annual meetings at the university’s 50,000-seat Folsom Stadium. From 1994 to 1996, Promise Keepers experienced explosive growth, as more than two million men attended 42 stadium events across the country. On October 4, 1997, a crowd estimated in excess a million men gathered in Washington, D.C., for ‘Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men.’ The emphasis was on personal repentance and prayer for the nation. In its 17 years, PK has engaged more than 5.5 million men through 140 stadium and arena events.

Explaining the growth of those years has been a challenge. Most of us associated with the ministry during those years attribute it to prayer and humble leadership of Bill. Bill left PK in 2003. He is currently founder and CEO of the Road to Jerusalem.

Bill is the author of four books, Ashes to Glory, Sold Out, Two-gether, and Blind Spots. He and his wife Lyndi have 4 grown children and 10 grandchildren.

The men of 2007 honor Bill McCartney for his devotion to following Jesus wherever he leads, his love of all men especially men of color, and his passion for bringing the lost to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

Stand in the Gap 2007
Washington, D.C.
October 6, 2007