Leaving a Legacy: A Feature Story on Western's Former Head Football Coach Kay Dalton
This is the third profile of five individuals being inducted into the 2017 RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 14 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. The 1999 University of Nebraska at Kearney Softball Team will also be inducted. Tickets for the Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet can be purchased by clicking here.
Fifty-six years ago, Kay Dalton began his coaching career at Western State Colorado University (formerly known as Western State College) and would later become one of the most influential coaches in football history.
Kay was the head coach for the Mountaineers from 1961 to 1965 and led the team to three consecutive RMAC Championship titles (1963-1965). During his coaching career at Western, Kay went 15-5 in the RMAC and 33-12 overall. To this day, he remains one of the best coaches in school history with an overall winning percentage of .733.
At Western, Kay transformed the 1963 team into one of the best programs in the country. The Mountaineers went 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the RMAC. Their only setback that season was to Arizona State.
In 1964, his team saw a perfect season going undefeated in the conference for the second consecutive year (3-0 RMAC, 9-0 overall). The team’s regular season success earned them a trip to the Mineral Bowl (Small College Championship Game) where the Mountaineers fell to North Dakota State 14-13.
The 1965 team continued the winning tradition as the Mountaineers won its third straight RMAC Championship title and garnered a 7-1 overall record.
Later, in 1967, Kay left college football to become the head coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He remained in the CFL when he joined the British Columbia Lions coaching staff in 1971. Kay moved to the National Football League (NFL) where he coached four different teams between 1974 and 1986 including the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and Houston Oilers.
Kay would then circle back to college football in 1987 where he joined the coaching staff at Colorado State and then found himself at University of Northern Colorado (UNC) as an assistant coach in 1989. He was promoted to head coach at UNC in 2000 until retiring with the Bears in 2005.
Dalton’s former UNC football quarterback, Jon Boyer reflects on his memories of Kay Dalton. Boyer transferred from Colorado State to UNC to play for Dalton during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
“I [started] those two seasons,” said Boyer. “He [Coach Dalton] is innovative with his offensive scheme so I transferred down and I believed, like any young player, that [I] was going to come in and be just fine. As time went on, I had wished I had been there the full four years.”
Anyone who played for Dalton knew his expectations were nothing short of being the best. He was a highly respected coach throughout his career and gained the trust of his players and coaching staff through his tremendous qualities.
“There are many attributes [of Coach Dalton], but the attention to detail and [his] honesty [is what sets him apart from the other coaches],” said Boyer. “…That is what I appreciated the most; the direct honesty that I always received from him whether it was good or bad. Then there was always [him] following up with ‘how we can get to that next goal.’ So, it was never an ending point, it was just ‘here is the reality and here’s where we can go from here’ and I think when you have that, you can truly strive to accomplish whatever you are after and I think that’s amazing.”
Kay’s coaching highlights include developing professional football players such as Floyd Little, Riley Odoms, Earl Campbell, Warren Moon, O.J. Simpson, Dan Reeves, and Bill Kenney to name a few. He was a part of the coaching staff for the 1986 Broncos team who made it to Super Bowl XXI and he was on the coaching staff when the UNC Bears won two NCAA Division II national titles in 1996 and 1997.
Since his retirement, Kay has been inducted into three Hall of Fames including the Colorado State Hall of Fame (2000), Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame (2008), and Northern Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame (2013).
Kay will be honored at the 2017 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet, held at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel on Friday, July 14.