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Steve Fairchild at a glance...
Coaching Background
Postseason Experience
Prominent Players Coached
On Dec. 12, 2007, the Colorado State Rams brought back one of their own, naming Steve Fairchild the 19th head coach in the university's football program history, which began in 1893. "Steve Fairchild has a long-standing history of success at Colorado State," said Director of Athletics Paul Kowalczyk, "both as a student-athlete and coach. I know that he has great passion for this university, this program and this community." That community saw an immediate return on the athletic department's investment in 2008, when Fairchild became the first head coach in program annals to lead his team to a bowl game in his inaugural season. His seven wins also were the most ever by a first-year CSU head coach, the team's first winning season in five years. The Rams also produced the conference's leading rusher in Gartrell Johnson, making good on Fairchild's promise to restore CSU's smash-mouth offensive identity it held during his previous tenure at CSU. Fairchild, 50, returned to his alma mater from the National Football League, where he had tutored some of the game's most productive young stars since leaving CSU after the 2000 season. Fairchild became the second current Mountain West Conference head coach to leave the NFL for his school, following Air Force's Troy Calhoun. And like Calhoun, Fairchild starred as a quarterback at his school. He first came to CSU in 1978 as a junior-college All-American, and in his first CSU season led the Rams in passing while splitting starting duties with Keith Lee. Coaches opted to redshirt him in 1979, then made him the full-time starter in 1980, when he served as a team captain and earned second-team all-conference honors behind Jim McMahon. The Rams that year lost only once over their final six games -- to national powerhouse BYU. Included in that stretch was Fairchild's best game, a 28-25 win vs. Wyoming Nov. 1, when he completed 28 of 35 passes for 406 yards and three TDs to earn Sports Illustrated Player of the Week honors. Following his playing days, Fairchild launched a coaching career that in 2009 will enter its 28th season, 16 of which have been as a coordinator and 20 of which have been at the college level. And nine of those years have been at Colorado State, where Sonny Lubick made him a member of his original coaching staff, in 1993. Fairchild coached quarterbacks from 1993-96, then replaced Dave Lay and served as offensive coordinator from 1997-2000. During Fairchild's first tenure as a CSU coach, the Rams were a combined 37-12 and experienced unprecedented offensive success, including:
"When you examine history," Kowalczyk said, "when Steve was an assistant at CSU, we typically had the most prolific offense and top performers in the conference." A man of commitment, at the time of accepting CSU's offer to become head coach in December 2007, Fairchild did not want to leave his NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, until the season ended, refusing to abandon his Buffalo head coach, Dick Jauron, or his players. The Bills were in the thick of the AFC playoff race, with three regular-season games remaining, when Fairchild was hired by the Rams. "We would never jeopardize his current commitment," Kowalczyk said in announcing the hiring. "We knew from the outset and were comfortable with the dedication he has to his team and his fellow staff members. It is that type of value system -- commitment, integrity, honesty, accountability and responsibility -- that had him at the top of our list since the beginning." Despite a vow to remain in Buffalo until season's end, Fairchild understood the need to focus on recruiting during a critical time and quickly moved to assemble key members of his first CSU coaching staff, hiring three immediately after the school named him as head coach. That staff has mirrored one of Fairchild's characteristics, an ability to bring out the best in younger players, especially QBs, a common thread throughout his career since the day he graduated as CSU's field general. "At both the professional and college levels," Kowalczyk said, "he has had a reputation of developing young players and helping them reach their maximum potential. That is an attractive trait in our program." At Colorado State, he tutored Anthoney Hill, who led the Rams through a storybook 1994 season that included two TDs in a win at No. 4 Arizona and its Desert Swarm defense, and ended with CSU's first conference title since 1955 and a berth in the Holiday Bowl opposite Michigan. Hill left CSU as the school's career total offense leader. Fairchild then coached Moreno as the QB guided the Rams to a pair of WAC championships (1995, '97) and two more Holiday Bowl trips. And before getting an opportunity to coach in the NFL, Fairchild's last CSU pupil was Matt Newton, who helped corral the first two Mountain West Conference titles and consecutive Liberty Bowl appearances. In the NFL as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach with the St. Louis Rams (2003-05), Fairchild helped QB Marc Bulger become a Pro Bowl MVP in 2003. Fairchild's St. Louis offense achieved three straight Top 10 rankings (2003-05), finished second in scoring (2003), was second in passing efficiency (2005) and contributed to consecutive playoff appearances (2003-04). In his first year as Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator (2006), he helped J.P. Losman to a 3,000-yard passing season and the NFL's 11th-best passer rating. Earlier, after making a difficult decision to leave CSU, he served as running backs coach for the Bills (2001-02), and oversaw Travis Henry's Pro Bowl season in 2001. Prior to rejoining CSU in 1993, Fairchild served as quarterbacks coach at San Diego State (1990-92), offensive coordinator at New Mexico (1987-89), recruiting coordinator/tight ends coach at San Diego State (1986), offensive coordinator at Ferris State (1984-85) and offensive coordinator at Mesa Community College (1982-83) in San Diego. At SDSU, he coached a pair of NFL draft choices in quarterback Dan McGwire (chosen in the first round, 16th overall, in 1991), and tight end Rob Awalt (third round, 62nd overall, 1987), and also helped the Aztecs to the 1991 Freedom Bowl. At New Mexico, he coached Terrance Mathis, who became the NCAA's career receiving yardage leader and was selected in the sixth round (141st overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft. At Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich. (hometown of Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle), Fairchild oversaw an offense that produced David DenBraber, then the NCAA's Division II career passing leader. And throughout his college coaching stops, Fairchild sowed the seeds of recruiting relationships from the West Coast to the Great Lakes. He has personally recruited the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Michigan. Nominated by Lubick for the 1999 Frank Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's outstanding assistant coach, Fairchild during the search for the Rams' next head coach came highly recommended by his predecessor at Colorado State, Lubick. Among the names Lubick recommended, Fairchild stood out, partly because he called plays his last two NFL seasons under a defensive-minded head coach in Jauron. And before getting his chance to call his own plays, Fairchild in St. Louis worked directly with one of the NFL's most highly regarded play-callers, Mike Martz. Martz was Fairchild's position coach at Mesa Community College from 1976-77. No stranger to the importance of classroom success, Fairchild as a CSU senior in 1980 earned first-team academic all-conference honors with a 3.05 grade-point average. He also garnered the Merrill-Gheen Award for athletic and academic achievement, as well as the NCAA District Athletic Achievement Award. Born Stephen Thomas Fairchild as the fourth of five children on June 21, 1958, in Decatur, Ill., he is married to the former Nancy Kolstoe. The couple has two daughters, Lindsey (21) and Jill (18). Lindsey recently graduated from the University of Arkansas, while Jill is a sophomore at Colorado State after graduating from Orchard Park (N.Y.) High School, where she was Athlete of the Year. Fairchild graduated from Colorado State in May of 1981 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He went on to earn his master's in education from Azusa Pacific in 1983. A two-year letterman as a quarterback at San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, Fairchild led his team to consecutive league championships in 1974 and '75. After graduation, he stayed home at Mesa Community College and became the first-ever JC quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards, earning first-team All-America honors and California's Player of the Year award in 1977. Former colleagues on Coach Fair:"Coach Fairchild understands the history and the tradition of the Colorado State program and will bring a great deal of passion to the job. He is also a great teacher and communicates well with his players. He is one of the great offensive minds in college football." "Steve is a dedicated, hard working, very bright and innovative football coach. He will motivate his team to play disciplined and aggressive football. I look forward to following the Colorado State Rams in the years ahead." "I have been fortunate to have known Steve since he was 17 years old. I coached him as a young man and watched him develop his skills as a coach. He has unusual knowledge and insight into the game of football with great passion. He was and still is a fierce competitor." "Steve Fairchild is as impressive a football coach as there is. His proven ability to conceive and implement effective concepts, at both the college and NFL level, will provide for explosive results. Add to this Steve's character as well as his commitment to Colorado State as an alumnus, and I have no doubt that he will be extremely successful." Former pupils on Coach Fair:"I am grateful he chose to return to CSU. He has what it takes to be successful in today's highly competitive college atmosphere." "He is a quality person with a quality family, and I believe Steve Fairchild, Larry Kerr and their staff are going to be coaches that the community can welcome with open arms. Colorado State has a bright future ahead." "Coach Fairchild played a huge role in my development, not only with my skills as a quarterback, but as a complete football player. I was fortunate enough to learn from him for five years, a big reason why I was able to play at the next level." "The way he challenged me was different from the more aggressive approach, and I responded." "He's a heck of a guy and a great offensive-minded coach. I'm glad that they got him back at CSU. He can do a lot of great things with his experience, and coming from the NFL, I think he'll bring another dimension to CSU."
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