BERKELEY – Former Cal football coach Roger Theder passed away Saturday from complications from Parkinson's disease at the age of 77. Theder spent 10 seasons on the Cal coaching staff (1972-81) including a four-year stretch as head coach from 1978-81.

"I have associated Roger Theder with Cal football for as long as I can remember," said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Michael Williams '82, who was a Cal student-athlete when Theder was the school's head football coach. "I have tremendous memories of his time at Cal both as a member of our coaching staff and then again in recent years after he retired from coaching and became more involved again with our Cal family in many ways. We will miss him greatly."
 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Roger Theder, a great Golden Bear and one of the top QB coaches ever. #RIP Roger

— Sonny Dykes (@CALCoachDykes) October 4, 2016

Theder was an assistant coach on offense during a strong run for Cal football in the mid-1970's under head coach Mike White including the 1975 squad that won a co-Pac-8 title and finished the season with an 8-3 record and a No. 14 national ranking for the program's best marks in both of those categories since 1951. He also worked with a 7-3-1 squad in 1974 and an 8-3 team in 1977, and coached a trio of All-American quarterbacks in Steve Bartkowski, the late Joe Roth and Rich Campbell. Bartkowski, voted into the College Football Hall of Fame, was selected No. 1 overall in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

Theder was promoted to Cal's head coach in 1978 and led the Bears to their first bowl game in 21 seasons at the 1979 Garden State Bowl. He had winning records in each of his first two seasons as Cal's head coach and finished with a career record of 18-27.

Theder would later make a pair of NFL stops as the running backs coach with the Baltimore Colts (1982-84) and quarterbacks coach for the San Diego Chargers (1987) while he spent one season in between as the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Outlaws of the now-defunct USFL.

Theder capped his coaching career with four seasons as the offensive coordinator at San Jose State (1993-96) and also spent four campaigns early in his career as an assistant at Stanford (1968-71), where he was the quarterbacks and receivers coach for the 1970 and 1971 Rose Bowl-winning teams.

Following his coaching career. he served as a tutor for approximately 200 quarterbacks per year at all levels primarily through private lessons and quarterback camps.

Theder was a 1963 graduate of Western Michigan, where he played three seasons of college football and baseball as a quarterback and catcher, making two trips to the College World Series and winning three conference titles on the diamond. He earned his master's degree from Bowling Green State in 1964 after serving as a graduate assistant football coach for the 1963 season. He then spent one campaign coaching at Lima Shawnee High School in Ohio in 1964 before beginning his collegiate coaching career with three seasons as an assistant at Northern Illinois (1965-67).

Theder is survived by his wife (Marie) and three children (Rick, Denae, Monique) as well as six grandchildren. Funeral services are pending.