Portland State Athletics mourns the passing for former football coach and PSU Athletics Hall of Famer Don Read. Read passed away on Wednesday at the age of 90.
 
Read had two stints at Portland State, from 1968-71 and 1981-85. He was also a head coach at Oregon, Oregon Tech and Montana during his career. Read led the Griz to a NCAA 1-AA National Championship in 1995.
 
Read was Portland State's seventh head coach and the first to have a winning record (1968-71). That he could gain that distinction during PSU's move from NAIA to NCAA competition was remarkable. His teams scored the first victories over Big Sky Conference schools, defeating Montana, Montana State, and Weber State in that era.

Read brought PSU its first NCAA record-setting quarterback, Tim Von Dulm, and instilled fan interest that set attendance records.

During his second stint at PSU, he was selected Conference and Region Coach of the Year in 1984 after leading the Vikings to the Western Football Conference championship. That team matched the school's best record (8-3) to that date. He was one of five finalists for National Coach of the Year.