One of the loyal SpartanThunder.com message board posters this AM dropped a message in "remembrance" of this Spartan great.
So, this gave us some motivation to write up an early AM "remembrance" of once Spartan coaching great in Jack Elway.
Here is Jack's brief story of remembrance.
Jack Elway was a San Jose State coach that had handily beaten the Stanford Cardinal in his SJSU career.
Elway compiled a 35-20-1 mark with the Spartans (1979-83), and was lured away to Stanford (1984-88). He did not, however, have near the success he had while at San Jose State.
Jack Elway had been coach at San Jose State, and had amassed a .624 win rate.
The Spartans had usually been a pretty good football program back in the Elway era and up until it's 1990 California Raisin Bowl win over Central Michigan with Jeff Garcia at the helm.
SJSU with Jack at the head coach role actually beat Stanford the last two years it was quarterbacked by Jack Elway's famous son, John (Stanford was only 15-18 with Elway at quarterback, despite Elway's near-Heisman performances in his junior and senior years at the farm).
Jack Elway was obviously a bit better-than-average coach, this as SJSU's record indicated.
Jack Elway could only manage .464 win rate at Stanford, however.
Jack Elway was the father of John Elway, who won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.
Jack Elway retired as the Denver Broncos' director of pro scouting.
Elway began working in the Broncos' scouting department and worked in Denver from 1993-99.
"A lot of people don't understand how close he (John Elway) and Jack were, even the people around him," Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said.
He was recognized for his outstanding performance at San Jose State by being inducted into the Ring of Honor (joining fellow coaches Dick Vermeil and Bill Walsh) in 1998.
Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick, an assistant under Elway at Stanford, called him a "classy, loving person. He was as fine a coach as there was and, more important, as fine a man as there was."
Jack Elway appeared at a news conference at San Jose Arena as he and his son, John Elway, were inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in San Jose, Calif, on November 2nd, 2000.
Thanks for the memories, Jack!