Marc Lunsford, affectionately called “Coach Luns” by his former Arizona players, passed away Tuesday in Tucson at the age of 70 because of health reasons.
Lunsford was a quarterback at Arizona from 1974 to 1977, and he was also an offensive assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and director of operations at his alma mater from 1981 through 2000, serving under Larry Smith and Dick Tomey.
He was a graduate assistant at Arizona in 1978 and 1979 before joining former Arizona coach Jim Young at Purdue as the quarterbacks and running backs coach in 1980. He returned to Arizona a year later as the Wildcats’ receivers coach. He started working as Arizona’s recruiting coordinator in 1983 in addition to his receivers coach duties.
After coaching quarterbacks at Arizona in 1985, he returned to being receivers coach in 1986.
When Smith departed for USC after the 1986 season, Lunsford was the only coach on the staff that returned to work with Tomey. He served as recruiting coordinator under Tomey after the coaching change.
He once again became receivers coach in 1989 before changing to coaching running backs in 1990. He held that role until 1997, when Tomey made him the tight ends coach.
Lunsford became Arizona’s first director of operations in 1998. He served that role before leaving the program a few months ahead of the 2000 season.
After his coaching career, Lunsford was active in the community, working as a behavioral health technician at La Frontera Behavioral Health Center and Sabino Recovery until retiring in recent years.
Known for his steady demeanor, attention to detail and loyalty to the program, Lunsford helped serve as a mentor to many of the Wildcats.
“I played for Coach Luns from 1982 thru 1984, and lucky for me, he valued effort and work ethic,” former Arizona receiver Jay Dobyns stated. “He rewarded it. It became clear, with Luns, the harder you worked, the more you played. I could always count on Luns to stay late after practice to get extra work and throw ball drills.
“Many times, we walked back to McKale together in the dark. He coached us tough and with high expectations. He was honest, sometimes brutally, but fair. He stood up for us. We all played hard for him because he was personally invested in our success. I could not have asked for more. Before he passed, I got the chance to thank him and tell him that I love him. For all that, and all of it, I am grateful.”
After graduating from Bloomington (Ind.) South High School in 1974, Lunsford turned down an offer by Georgia Tech to play for Young at Arizona. Newspaper reports out of Bloomington mentioned that Lunsford was one of the top four or five quarterbacks in the nation.
MARK LUNSFORD ARIZONA PASSING STATS
| Year | Comp | Att | Yds | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 70 | 132 | 1,284 | 12 | 5 |
| 1977 | 71 | 166 | 1,344 | 6 | 10 |
Lunsford did not play as a freshman and sophomore at Arizona because Bruce Hill was the starting quarterback. He mostly played in the 1976 and 1977 seasons under Young and Tony Mason.
Splitting time with sophomore Jim Krohn in 1977, after riding the bench in his first two years at Arizona, made Lunsford appreciate the players who are reserves, working hard to get the opportunity to play more.
“Coach Lunsford was always cool with me, even though he was never my position coach when I wasn’t playing for two years,” mentioned David Adams, Arizona’s top running back from 1984 to 1986 after not playing in 1982 and 1983. “He would keep me positive with little inside information from the coaches meetings that let me know what the coaches were saying about me and what I needed to work on, which was very helpful during the dark days of bench riding.”
Lunsford still holds the Arizona record for most yards gained per attempt (8.3) in a career. He also holds record for most yards per completion (18.13) in a career.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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