Mike MacIntyre George Michael " Mike " MacIntyre ( born March 14 , 1965 ) is an American college football coach who is currently the head coach for Colorado . MacIntyre played college football at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech and began his coaching career in 1990 as a graduate assistant at Georgia . From 1992 to 2002 , MacIntyre held various assistant coaching positions at Davidson , UT Martin , Temple , and Mississippi . From 2003 to 2007 , MacIntyre was an assistant coach with the NFL , first as defensive backs coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006 and then in the same position with the New York Jets in 2007 . MacIntyre returned to college football as defensive coordinator for Duke from 2008 to 2009 . Hired by San Jose State in 2010 , MacIntyre became a head coach for the first time in his career . As San Jose State head coach from 2010 to 2012 , MacIntyre coached a program that improved from a one - win season in 2010 to a 10 - 2 record in 2012 . San Jose State also earned its first - ever BCS Top 25 ranking and first bowl invitation since 2006 . After the 2012 regular season but before the 2012 Military Bowl , MacIntyre resigned from San Jose State to accept the head coach position at Colorado . Early life and college . Born in 1965 in Miami , Florida , MacIntyre is one of two sons of former football coach George MacIntyre and Betty MacIntyre . The MacIntyre family lived in many places throughout the Southern United States , as George MacIntyre was a scout for the University of Miami from 1964 to 1967 , defensive coordinator of the University of Tampa ( Tampa , Florida ) in 1968 , defensive back coach at Clemson University ( Clemson , South Carolina ) from 1970 to 1972 , and assistant coach for Vanderbilt University ( Nashville , Tennessee ) from 1973 to 1974 . In 1975 , George MacIntyre took his first head coaching position with UT Martin and became offensive coordinator for Ole Miss ( the University of Mississippi ) in 1978 . From 1979 to 1985 , George MacIntyre was head football coach of Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee . Mike MacIntyre attended Brentwood Academy in Brentwood , Tennessee near Nashville and played quarterback and defensive back on the football team . After graduating from Brentwood in 1984 , Mike MacIntyre played college football at Vanderbilt coached by his father for two seasons as a free safety , then transferred to Georgia Tech . MacIntyre earned a bachelor ' s degree in business management from Georgia Tech in 1989 and worked for one year at a Shoney ' s restaurant . Coaching career . Assistant coach ( 1990 – 2009 ) . After leaving Shoney ' s , MacIntyre enrolled in a University of Georgia graduate program and was a graduate assistant with the Georgia Bulldogs football team . In 1991 , MacIntyre earned his master ' s degree in education with an emphasis in sports management . Georgia also won the 1991 Independence Bowl . MacIntyre then became a defensive coordinator : at Davidson College ( then in Division III ) in 1992 , the University of Tennessee at Martin from 1993 to 1996 , and Temple University from 1997 to 1998 . ( George MacIntyre had been the head coach of Tennessee - Martin football from 1975 to 1977 . ) From 1999 to 2002 , MacIntyre coached at the University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss ) , starting as the wide receiver coach then in 2001 the defensive secondary coach . MacIntyre actively helped recruit Patrick Willis to Ole Miss ; Willis would become an All - Pro linebacker in the NFL . Ole Miss won the Independence Bowl in 1999 and 2002 and was the runner - up of the 2000 Music City Bowl . In 2001 , Ole Miss ranked fifth nationally in defensive for allowing 161 . 3 yards per game . MacIntyre would then spend five seasons in the NFL starting in 2003 : as the defensive back s coach of the Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcells until 2006 , then in 2007 in the same position with the New York Jets . In 2008 , Mike MacIntyre returned to college football as the defensive coordinator for Duke , and in his first season with Duke , the Blue Devils allowed 67 . 4 fewer yards and 9 . 8 fewer points per game than in 2007 . His defenses produced two of the best seasons statistically the Blue Devils had achieved . In 2009 , the American Football Coaches Association recognized MacIntyre as FBS Assistant Coach of the Year . San Jose State head coach ( 2010 – 2012 ) . 2010 . On December 16 , 2009 , MacIntyre became the new head coach of the San Jose State Spartans football team , a member of the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) , after Dick Tomey retired . The Spartans had just come off a 2 – 10 record in 2009 and had only three winning seasons since 1993 , and athletic director Tom Bowen planned on making a full 85 scholarship athletes available to the football team , as Academic Progress Rate penalties limited yearly scholarships to between 67 and 72 . Local media considered MacIntyre to be a smart hire despite his inexperience as a head coach . MacIntyre has stated that he chose to be the head coach to inspire success in the student - athletes and praised his father George MacIntyre for improving the struggling football programs Tennessee - Martin and Vanderbilt as coach . He also planned on dropping the spread offense and expand recruiting rather than rely on junior college transfers . San Jose State completed the 2010 season 1 – 12 . However , MacIntyre expressed optimism that the team would improve in 2011 given that the team would have 85 athletes on scholarship next season . 2011 . In 2011 , the Spartans finished 5 – 7 . Unlike the previous season in which MacIntyre had only six weeks of recruiting time , MacIntyre had a full term of recruiting . The coach also commented shortly before the first game of 2011 that his players benefited by learning his playbook throughout 2010 despite the one - win season . Then with the longest losing streak of Division I football , the Spartans lost 13 games in a row starting in 2010 until beating New Mexico State on September 24 , 2011 . San Jose State averaged 190 rushing yards per game by then , a marked improvement from years past . " San Jose Mercury News " columnist Jon Wilner credited MacIntyre ' s experience coaching in the SEC , a conference Wilner wrote was " all about running between the tackles . " The next week , San Jose State won its second in a row and ended a 16 - game road losing streak with a 38 – 31 victory over Colorado State ; that win marked the first time since 2008 San Jose State won two consecutive games and first non - conference win since 2002 . San Jose State ' s homecoming game on October 14 , 2011 was nationally televised as part of ESPN ' s " College Football Friday Primetime " , and San Jose State rallied to beat Hawaii 28 – 27 , the team ' s third win in four games . That win led to speculation that San Jose State would qualify for a bowl game . 2012 . In January 2012 , MacIntyre accepted a contract extension through the 2017 season . Scout . com ranked MacIntyre ' s 2012 recruiting class the best of the WAC . In July , MacIntyre speculated that San Jose State could contend for a WAC championship this year . San Jose State began the 2012 season 4 – 1 , the best start since the 2006 New Mexico Bowl championship season . The Spartans finished the regular season with a six - game winning streak and a 10 - 2 record — only two years removed from a 1 - 12 season — and for the first time in school history the Spartans earned a final end - of - season BCS ranking ( # 24 ) . The Spartans also finished the regular season with a # 24 ranking in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll . MacIntyre made $ 450 , 000 per year as head coach of the Spartans . Colorado ( 2013 – present ) . On December 10 , 2012 , the University of Colorado announced that it was hiring MacIntyre to replace coach Jon Embree , who was fired after two seasons . MacIntyre is the 25th full - time coach for the Colorado Buffaloes program .