McKay Remembered by Family, Friends

About 400 former players, family members and friends of John McKay gathered Wednesday in memory of the former USC and Tampa Bay Buccaneer coach.

McKay died Sunday of complications from diabetes. He was 77.

Though a private memorial service is planned, friends including former San Francisco 49er owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. and one-time Buccaneer coach Ray Perkins were invited to pay their respects in a reception setting at St. Lawrence Church.

A stream of visitors flowed through Higgins Hall for two hours, shaking hands and chatting briefly with family members. In a corridor outside the room, highlights of McKay’s college coaching career played on one television and the high points of his NFL days ran on another.

USC won four national championships and nine Pacific 8 Conference titles in 16 years under McKay, playing in the Rose Bowl eight times before McKay left the school to become the first coach of the expansion Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers lost their first 26 games before winning the last two in 1977, the franchise’s second season. Two years later, they made the playoffs for the first time and fell one victory short of the Super Bowl, losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game.