Pioneer Athletics Hall of Fame
Tim Tierney was a Pioneer for 37 years and served as the last head coach of Cal State Hayward Football. Tierney was a two-time All-Far Western Conference defensive back as a student-athlete at San Francisco State. After playing for two seasons in the Philadelphia Eagles organization, he returned to the Bay Area to pursue coaching. Tierney joined the Pioneer coaching staff in 1970 as the defensive coordinator. Five years later, he became the head coach, and he would remain in that position until the program was dropped in 1993. Between 1977 and 1986, the Pioneers had a winning record in eight out of ten seasons under Tierney, and he was twice named Far Western Conference Coach of the Year. In 1978, he led the team to a program-best 8-2 record. In 1981, they captured a share of the Far Western Conference title. In 1984, the Pioneers led the NCAC in rushing yards, and in 1985, they led the conference in total defense. During Tierney's 19 seasons at the helm of what was a non-scholarship football program, he routinely played over 90 percent of his non-conference schedule against scholarship programs like Santa Clara, Cal Poly, and Saint Mary's. Tierney also coached four CSUEB Atlhetics Hall of Famers: Greg Blankenship, Sandy LeBeaux, Mitch Bigger, and Bill Myatt.
After the final football season, Tierney continued to work as a professor of kinesiology until 2001, when he revived the Pioneer golf program and took over as head men's and women's golf coach. He helmed Pioneer golf for four years before handing it off to his successor, Alan Sue. Tierney retired from teaching in 2007, and he passed away in 2012 at the age of 68 due to complications from brain surgery. CSUEB's home golf tournament, the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout, bears his name.
