Ex-Bellarmine player/coach passes

[colhenrylives]

Bill McPherson, a former football player and assistant coach at Bellarmine Prep and Santa Clara University, passed away March 17 at age 88. He later coached at UCLA and in the NFL with the Eagles and 49ers. With the latter, he was associated with all five of the team's Super Bowl triumphs as an assistant coach and front office executive. As a Bells' assistant from 1956 through 1962, he worked with legendary head coach John Hanna during a period when the program was dominant in Northern California and in the old Catholic Athletic League. During that seven-season run at Bellarmine, the Hanna/McPherson combination won 52 games, lost seven and tied four. The 1956 (remember all-American RB Jim Josephson?) and 1959 teams were unbeaten.

 

[RidgeRider]

RIP.

What a bummer. I will always associate him with the 49ers, didn't know he had a background with Bellarmine or SCU.

 

[berdooman]

Tough loss for area football.

 

[colhenrylives]

McPherson had been on the Bay Area radar screen for so long it's no surprise that his early experiences had evolved from the old single-wing and went on from there. He was a vital coaching component with John Hanna and later at nearby SCU.