Born in Austin, MN and raised in Daly City, John Madden was familiar to millions of Americans as a Super Bowl-winning coach of the Oakland Raiders, a television ad pitchman, the leading NFL television analyst, and the namesake of the country’s best-selling sports video game.
But of all of Madden’s “careers”, the lengthiest was as a Bay Area morning radio personality.
The Bay Area knows him as “Coach”, a morning radio constant for over thirty years. Madden was first heard as a daily sidekick to “Emperor” Gene Nelson (BARHOF 2006) on KYA, beginning in 1982.
Their memorable conversations were ostensibly sports-related but in reality, covered whatever sprung from Madden’s agile mind.
When Nelson retired in 1994, Madden moved over to KNBR and joined Frank Dill (BARHOF 2006) for more of the same, until Dill’s retirement in 1997.
From 1997 to 2000, Madden was introduced each weekday morning on KCBS by yet another 2006 BARHOF inductee, Al Hart. After Hart’s retirement, the honor of bringing “Coach”onto the broadcast each morning fell to Stan Bunger (BARHOF 2010), who would write about Madden’s radio years in a 2024 book.
Madden’s last KCBS broadcast was on August 17, 2018. He passed away on December 28, 2021, days after celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with Virginia Madden.