Ex-Lions coach Wayne Fontes pays tribute to 49ers great John McVay; bond began long before NFL days

The NFL remembers John McVay as a main man behind five San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl wins.

Wayne Fontes remembers McVay, who died recently at age 91, as one of the best men he met in the NFL, or anywhere else.

Their respective football lives began with great Stark County rivals.

Before McVay was general manager of San Francisco's 1980s dynasty, he was the center and captain for the Massillon Tigers' 1948 state championship team.

Before Fontes was the winningest head coach in Detroit Lions history, he scored 24 touchdowns for the 1956 Canton McKinley team that beat Massillon 34-7 to finish 10-0.

In 1957, Fontes left for Michigan State while McVay came home to be head coach of the Canton Central Catholic Crusaders. In 1963, they met as fellow assistants on Michigan State head coach Duffy Daugherty's staff.

Both had new jobs in 1965, Fontes as head coach of an unbeaten Michigan high school team, McVay as head coach of the University of Dayton Flyers − McVay replaced Pete Ankney, a former McKinley coach.

"John called in 1966 to ask if I'd like to coach with him in Dayton," Fontes told The Canton Repository this past week from his home in Tarpon Springs, Florida. "At first I was excited and then I was maybe perplexed that he also wanted to speak to my wife.

"It was to let her know it was going to be a lot of hours, a lot of late days, seven days a week, things like that … to let her know that her life will also will change.

"I was impressed with that. I was already impressed with him from the time we were at Michigan State together. He knew how to handle players and people.

"Joining him really molded my career. He taught me the dos and don'ts of more than football.

"I'm looking for words, because I'm still kind of shocked he's not with us. I was very close with him and with his family. I tried to do things in my career that John McVay taught me."

More on John McVay:Remembering John McVay's impact on Stark County football before helping 49ers win Super Bowls

John McVay's Dayton Flyers football coaching staff included Wayne Fontes, George Perles, Tom Moore

Fontes, 82 and sounding robust, learned of McVay's death from Tom Moore, who, at 83, is on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' coaching staff. Moore and Fontes met when they worked for McVay at Dayton on a staff that included future Michigan State head coach George Perles.

"When Tom called me, we shared our great memories of working for John," Fontes said. "John treated everyone on the staff like men, which we appreciated. He was a class, class coach.

"I remember our first pregame meal at Dayton. I asked Tom to pass the pepper. Coach was sitting right across from me, and he raised his head and looked at me. I'm like … what did I do? George told me, 'You've got to be real quiet when you eat at this table. You've got to be thinking of the game at all times.'

"One time John turned to me and said, 'What are your aspirations?' I said, I hope one day to be as successful as you are, Coach.' He looked up and smiled and said, 'Just keep working hard.'"

Over time, McVay's quiet charm put Fontes at ease.

"He would sit and talk to you for the longest time," Fontes said. "We lived two blocks apart. He picked me up in the morning and we would ride to the office. We'd be the first ones in, at 5:45 in the morning. And I had to have a shirt and tie on. That was his deal.

"I appreciated all those things."

Wayne Fontes' coaching career included long run with John McKay at USC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Fontes left Dayton to climb the coaching ladder as an assistant at Iowa. He then had a long run under John McKay, first at USC, then with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and eventually spent eight full seasons as head coach of the Lions.

McVay worked his way to a brief head coaching run of the New York Giants before making a lasting impact as an executive with the 49ers, starting in 1979. He became right-hand man to Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh.

As a youth in Canton, Fontes lived near musicians who formed the chart-topping R&B group The O'Jays. Long into his career he might be caught in his office singing O'Jays songs, two of which, "Love Train" and "Back Stabbers," could be themes for the circle of life in the NFL.

In 1991, Fontes' Lions went 12-4. He was named NFL Coach of the Year.

Good times rolled in four different playoff seasons. In 1995, when former Massillon star Chris Spielman was the leading tackler, the Lions launched a 9-3 hot streak with a blowout win over Bill Belichick's Cleveland Browns.

McVay's 49ers won their fifth Super Bowl in 1994. The 1996 49ers were 11-4 when they played host to Detroit in a regular-season finale. Fontes' fortunes had soured. The Lions got off to a 4-2 start but arrived in San Francisco in a 1-8 slide.

"There were a lot of rumors this was going to be my last game with the Lions," Fontes recalls. "After the game, John came into our locker room. Bill Walsh was retired at that point, but he was with John.

"The 49ers beat us. John looked at me and said, 'Good game.' Then he sat down beside me, with Bill Walsh, and we talked for what seemed like a half an hour.

"He told me, 'Life will go on. Just keep working hard.

"He said things are going to be as good or better than you might anticipate. When he left, he said, 'This isn't forever.'

"I appreciated that."

Fontes was fired the next day, a month short of his 57th birthday, with the Lions owing him one last year of head coaching salary.

He never returned to coaching, and he says his time with family and friends in Tarpon Springs represent the best years of his life.

He seemed glad to spend a moment with the Repository paying tribute to a mentor who has passed.

"If you didn't like John McVay," Fontes said, "you didn't like apple pie, ice cream and America."

He closed a conversation by saying, "Tell everyone back in Canton that Wayne Fontes says hello."

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Super Bowl GM John McVay of 49ers dies, lauded by Wayne Fontes