[8] He compiled a 31–20 (.608) record and three Big Sky Conference championships in his five seasons with the Bobcats, where one of his starting quarterbacks was Dennis Erickson.
[7] At Montana State, Sweeney is credited with convincing Jan Stenerud, a Norwegian on a ski jumping scholarship (three-time Big Sky champion), to go out for the football team as a kicker.
[14][15] His team's most noteworthy accomplishment was the defeat of Rose Bowl-bound Stanford in 1971 to garner him NCAA District 8 Coach of the Year honors.
[17][18][19] Promptly hired at Fresno State,[20][21][22][23] Sweeney led the Bulldogs for two seasons before becoming a National Football League (NFL) assistant for two years.
[1][28] His wife and mother of all his children, Lucille (Cile) Carollo Sweeney, was his high school sweetheart from Butte; she died at age 57 in 1988 from an intracranial hemorrhage.
[31] He and his wife had recently moved to a senior living home due to his failing health, which included a stay at St. Agnes Medical Center.