Robin Pflugrad

Early life and coaching career

Pflugrad was born in 1958 in Eugene, Oregon, where he later attended North Eugene High School. He went to college at Portland State University, where he played football as a wide receiver, earned all-academic recognition, and served as the team captain during his senior year in 1979. Pflugrad's first coaching experience came the following year as an assistant on the staff at his alma mater. In 1981, Pflugrad coached at South Eugene High School, before he returned to Portland State to serve as an assistant coach from 1982 to 1985 under head coach Don Read. Pflugrad then followed Read to Montana, where he worked as an assistant coach with the team's wide receivers, quarterbacks, and running backs.

Assistant coach in the Pac-10 Conference

From 1995 to 2000, Pflugrad was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Arizona State under head coach Bruce Snyder. The 1996 Sun Devils won the Pac-10 conference title and finished the season 11-1. From 2001 to 2005, he served as the tight ends coach, assistant head coach, and recruiting coordinator at Washington State. Washington State posted three straight 10-win seasons while he was on staff, and WSU head coach Bill Doba dubbed Pflugrad "The Bulldog" for his diligence in recruiting student-athletes to the university In 2002, Pflugrad was reportedly interested in the Montana head coaching job, but that went to Bobby Hauck instead. During that time period, he was offered a position on the Alabama staff by new head coach Mike Price, but remained at Washington State. After the 2005 season, Pflugrad joined head coach Mike Bellotti's staff at Oregon in a move driven in part by the desire to be closer to his and his wife's four elderly parents. He coached the wide receivers there from 2006 to 2008, including his own son, Aaron Pflugrad who was a freshman in 2007. In the spring of 2006, he had spinal surgery to replace three degenerative vertebrae. Over the course of his career he has coached approximately two-dozen All-Americans and/or future NFL players.

Montana

In 2009, Pflugrad returned to Montana to become the wide receivers coach under Bobby Hauck. After that season, Hauck left Montana to become the head coach at UNLV, and Pflugrad was promoted to replace him. ESPN reported that Pflugrad was selected over two other former Montana assistants who were considered candidates for the job: Brent Pease, a former Montana quarterback and Boise State receivers coach, and Dave Doeren, Wisconsin defensive coordinator. Pflugrad said after his hiring that Montana would be "very fast on offense, up-tempo and upbeat." In his two seasons as head coach Pflugrad guided the Grizzlies to an 18-7 record. In 2011, he led the Grizzlies to an 11-3 record, capturing the Big Sky Championship and advancing to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. The 2011 Big Sky Championship and the subsequent playoff wins were vacated due to NCAA violations. Despite this he was named a semi-finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as the nation's top FCS coach.

On March 29, 2012, Pflugrad was informed that his contract would not be renewed, and he would no longer be head coach at the University of Montana. Although no reason was given by the university's president, Royce Engstrom, for Pflugrad's termination it was believed to have stemmed from off-field incidents involving certain members of the Montana football team. Pflugrad, known in coaching circles for his clean-cut approach, was shocked by his dismissal, and defenders pointed to team lectures on drugs, alcohol and behavior and his crackdown on a decades-long player initiation ritual as examples of his button-downed philosophy. When Pflugrad returned to Missoula as an opposing coach for the Montana vs. Weber State game in November 2013, he spoke openly about his love for the team he left behind and what he believed were political machinations that cost him the head job there. Following the dismissal at Montana, Engstrom, the university president, gave Pflugrad a letter of recommendation that touts his coaching ability and personality and says Pflugrad's removal "was not the result of any specific impropriety or improper conduct by him." In addition, Peggy Kuhr, an interim vice president at the University of Montana later told The Oregonian newspaper, "Coach Pflugrad is a good and decent person who tried to do things the right way. I applaud him for it."

Assistant coach

In February 2013, Weber State hired Pflugrad as the team's offensive coordinator. He was not retained when head coach Jody Sears was fired the next year.

In April 2015, Pflugrad was hired as offensive coordinator for Phoenix College, under Dan Cozzetto.

Personal life

He and his wife Marlene have two grown children, Amanda Plfugrad, who works in media for the New York Jets, and son Aaron Pflugrad, who is a college assistant football coach.