Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Don Read, the former Montana football coach who retired after leading the Grizzlies to their first national title in 1995, died Wednesday, four days before the school plays for a third national title. He was 90. Read's son, Bruce, confirmed his father's death to The Oregonian while not disclosing a cause. Montana plays defending champion South Dakota State on Sunday in Frisco, Texas, for the Football Championship Subdivision championship. Read was Oregon's head coach for three seasons, going 9-24 from 1974-76, and had two stints at Portland State and also coached Oregon Tech before taking over at Montana for the 1986 season. Under Read, Montana was 85-36 and won two Big Sky titles. In 1995, Montana beat Marshall 22-20 in the championship game.
