Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1995
The Barberton, Ohio native first became a Deacon in 1961. He earned prominence as a senior starting quarterback, when he and backfield mate Brian Piccolo sparked a team that had won only one game in two seasons to five victories, including four ACC wins. He was the 1964 league leader in total offense and an Academic All-ACC selection.
This ability to reverse the fortunes of football teams has been a continuous part of Mackovic's career. It was never more evident than in 1979, when in his second year as head coach of his alma mater, he guided Wake Forest to a Top-20 ranking and the Tangerine Bowl - the first postseason experience for the Deacs in three decades. For that effort, he was named national "Coach of the Year" by The Sporting News and the Walter Camp Foundation.
Mackovic's talents as a coach were obvious and the lure of the National Football League took him to the Dallas Cowboys following the 1980 campaign. In 1983, he became head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Three years later, he led that organization to its first playoff appearance in 15 seasons.
After a year away from coaching, Mackovic returned to the college ranks as head coach at Illinois in 1988, where he took a program that had won seven games the previous two years and directed it to four consecutive winning records and four straight bowl games. He was twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year and his 1990 team was a conference co-champion. The title was Illinois' second since 1963.
Mackovic followed with a six-year stint at the University of Texas, winning a Southwest conference championship in 1995 and the Big 12 championship in 1996. His college coaching career came to a close at Arizona after the 2003 season.
John Mackovic was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame on February 25, 1995.
