John Ralston ( American football ) John R . Ralston ( born April 26 , 1927 ) is a former American football player , coach , and sports executive . He served as the head football coach at Utah State University ( 1959 – 1962 ) , Stanford University ( 1963 – 1971 ) , and San Jose State University ( 1993 – 1996 ) , compiling a career college football record of 97 – 81 – 4 . Ralston also coached the Denver Broncos of the NFL from 1972 to 1976 , amassing a record of 34 – 33 – 3 , and the Oakland Invaders of the USFL in 1983 and part of the 1984 season , tallying a mark of 9 – 12 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1992 . Early life , education , and playing career . Born in Oakland , California , Ralston and his family moved to Norway , Michigan when he was eight years old . Upon graduating from Norway High School in 1944 , he went to the University of California , Berkeley and played linebacker there on two Rose Bowl teams before earning his physical education degree in 1951 . Coaching career . Ralston began his coaching career in 1953 at San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo , California , just south of Oakland . He then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Cal from 1956 – 1958 . Ralston was then named head coach at Utah State University in 1959 . In four years there , he compiled a 31 – 11 – 1 record and won Skyline Conference championships . Ralston turned down the head coaching job at Nebraska in 1962 before he moved to Stanford University in 1963 and helped revive a sagging program . Over nine seasons , Ralston guided the team back to national respectability while building a mark of 55 – 36 – 3 . In his last two seasons , 1970 – 1971 , Ralston ' s teams won two Pacific - 8 titles and notched back - to - back Rose Bowl victories over Ohio State and Michigan , both of whom were undefeated coming into the Rose Bowl game . Under Ralston ' s tutelage , Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy in 1970 . In 1972 , Ralston departed the San Francisco Bay Area once again , this time for the Rocky Mountains and the Denver Broncos . The Broncos continue to struggle under Ralston finishing with a 5 – 9 record in 1972 . In 1973 , a year which included the " Orange Monday " game played in front of a prime - time national television audience in which the Broncos came from behind to earn a tie on Jim Turner ' s 35 - yard field goal , Ralston coached the team into first place with a 6 – 3 – 2 record . With their first winning season in franchise history under their belt and with the AFC West title on the line , the Broncos season ended with a 21 – 17 loss to the Oakland Raiders . Ralston was the UPI ' s choice as AFC Coach of the Year after Denver achieved its first - ever winning season at 7 – 5 – 2 . In 1974 , Ralston coached the Broncos to a 7 – 6 – 1 record for their second consecutive winning season . The 1975 season was one of mediocre play for the Broncos as the team finished with a disappointing 6 – 8 record , but the following year the team improved and finished with a 9 – 5 record . However , the record was not good enough qualify the Broncos for the playoffs . Despite the strong showing , Broncos players issued a protest vote of no confidence in their coach and Ralston resigned following the season . In five seasons with the Broncos , Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times and an overall record of 34 – 33 – 3 . After leaving the Broncos , Ralston held several assistant coaching jobs which included the Philadelphia Eagles , the San Francisco 49ers , the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League , and as a head coach in the USFL with the Oakland Invaders . Ralston also coached in Europe . He was the head coach of the Dutch Lions , the national football team of the Netherlands . With the Lions , Ralston won the bronze medal in the European Championships in Helsinki , Finland in 1991 .