Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

John Ralston was one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most popular and beloved college and professional sports figures and passed away peacefully in Sunnyvale, Calif., on September 14, 2019.

Ralston’s impact on the Bay Area sports scene spanned 60 years from his days as a linebacker on the 1947 through 1950 University of California, Berkeley football teams playing for legendary coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf” into the 21st century as a special assistant to the athletics director at San Jose State University.

HIS FOOTBALL COACHING CAREER: Ralston was best known as a football coach with a positive approach to life that took Utah State University, Stanford University and the Denver Broncos to unprecedented success.

Ralston began his coaching career as an assistant football coach at San Lorenzo (Calif.) High in 1953 and spent two seasons at Mt. Diablo High before returning to Cal. He returned to the University of California in 1956 as an assistant football coach and was on the staff for the 1958 Golden Bears’ team that played in the 1959 Rose Bowl.

Ralston was the head coach at Utah State (1959-62), Stanford (1963-71), Denver Broncos (1972-76), Oakland Invaders (1983-84) and San Jose State (1993-96). Combining his college and pro head coaching records, his teams amassed a 140-126-7 win-loss record.

Ralston’s Utah State teams played in the 1960 Sun Bowl and 1961 Gotham Bowl and his Stanford squads won consecutive Pacific 8 Conference championships and Rose Bowls following the 1970 and 1971 regular seasons. The Broncos’ first winning season in franchise history was in 1973, his second as a NFL head coach.

Ralston’s coaching tree included former NFL head coaches the late Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil, Jim Mora, Sr., Mike White, the late Rod Rust, the late Jack Christiansen and college head coaches the late Roger Theder, the late Tony Knap, Ed Peasley and Rubin Carter.

Ralston’s best-known players included 1970 Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett at Stanford and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Merlin Olsen at Utah State.

MORE THAN A FOOTBALL COACH: Ralston’s football experiences extended beyond coaching players and his assistants. He was the Broncos’ general manager and head coach. He was a Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach to Vermeil in 1978. He was the vice president of the San Francisco 49ers during the 1979 and 1980 seasons. He was the president of the Portland Breakers in 1984 and 1985.

Ralston scouted for the Seattle Seahawks in 1988 and 1989 and served three years — 1990 through 1992 — as the coordinator for Operation Discovery, a search for foreign-born football players of the World League of American Football. His search took him to the Soviet Union and a short-lived position as head coach of the Moscow Bears, the U.S.S.R’s first pro football team.

Ralston, a one-time Dale Carnegie Courses instructor, also served as an administrator for Major League Volleyball, a pro women’s volleyball league, and the general manager of the Sacramento Capitols team tennis franchise.

Ralston, a Oakland, Calif. native, was born on April 26, 1927, and spent parts of his youth in Norway, Michigan. He graduated from the University of California in 1951.

A World War II veteran, Ralston served in the Marine Corps, achieving the rank of corporal. He was stationed mainly on the S.S. Little Rock in the South Pacific.

SOME HONORS & ACCOLADES: Ralston’s lengthy list of accolades includes induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1996, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, the San Jose Hall of Fame in 2001; and the Sports Halls of Fame for San Jose State, Stanford and Utah State.

As a coach, Ralston was named Stanford’s “Coach of the Century” when the university celebrated its centennial anniversary of football in 1991 and the 1973 United Press International’s American Football Conference “Coach of the Year” in his second season with the Broncos.

Ralston is survived by his daughter, Terry (Ralston) Zaffonato, four grandsons, two granddaughters, and one great granddaughter. He was predeceased by his wife of 46 years, Patty (Ward) Ralston; a son, Larry; a daughter, Sherry (Ralston) Brown, the twin sister of Terry; and Virginia Fanelli, his life partner following the passing of Patty.

A celebration of life for Ralston will be announced in the near future.