N Colorado reprimands Max McCaffrey for clipboard incident

Updated Oct. 6, 2021 1:13 p.m. ET

Associated Press

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — The University of Northern Colorado has reprimanded offensive coordinator Max McCaffrey for tossing a broken clipboard into the stands that hit a spectator during a game at Montana State.

The Bears' athletics department, in conjunction with Montana State and the Big Sky Conference, finished a review of the incident involving McCaffrey, concluding that throwing the clipboard to a fan as a souvenir showed “a lack of judgment but no malicious intent.” McCaffrey is the son of Northern Colorado head coach and longtime NFL receiver Ed McCaffrey.

The Bears lost 40-7 to Montana State in Bozeman last weekend to drop to 2-3 this season.

Director of athletics Darren Dunn said in a statement that after talking to Max McCaffrey, it was “clear there was no intent to harm nor was the action fueled by anger. Max is embarrassed by the incident and is working privately to apologize to the fan hit by the errant toss.”

It's been a family reunion in Greeley for the McCaffreys, with quarterback Dylan McCaffrey transferring in from Michigan and Max putting NFL tryouts on the backburner to serve as offensive coordinator. They joined forces with their dad, Ed, who was hired as Northern Colorado's head coach in December 2019.

Ed McCaffrey didn't make his college coaching debut until Sept. 3 at Colorado after the Bears’ season in 2020 was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ed McCaffrey played wideout for the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. He's also the father of Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25.