He was the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1960 to 1975 and of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976 to 1984.

McKay was born in West Virginia in the now-defunct town of Everettville in Monongalia County, where he was raised as a Roman Catholic.

He returned home to West Virginia and worked as an electrician's assistant in a coal mine for a year, then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942.

Because the two teams did not meet during the season, the bid to the Rose Bowl was decided by the university presidents, which went to California on a split vote that was not disclosed.

[4][5][6] Van Brocklin graduated and was selected in the 1949 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams; McKay took over the Webfoot offense in 1949 and called the audibles from his two-point stance as a running back.

In 1962, McKay guided USC to an 11–0 record, including a 42–37 Rose Bowl victory over #2-ranked Wisconsin, leading to a national championship.

USC won a total of four national championships (1962, 1967, 1972, and 1974) during McKay's tenure as head coach, and the 1972 squad is regarded as one of the best teams in college football history.

After turning down several offers from NFL teams, including the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, McKay was lured to Tampa Bay in 1976 to become the Bucs' first head coach.

[11] Motivating his decision was the combined fivefold salary increase (totaling $2 million) and the prospect of building a franchise from the ground up.

They clinched the 1979 NFC Central title in the final week by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 3–0 in a driving Tampa rainstorm.

They then defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24–17 in a divisional playoff game to advance to the NFC Championship where, in a defensive battle, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 9–0.

After the 1982 season, McKay strongly supported star quarterback Doug Williams' bid for a better contract; at the time he was making less than 12 backups in the league.

"[11] McKay later said that, despite the team's rapid ascent to the playoffs, the Tampa Bay Area fans never forgave him for the franchise's 0–26 start.

[15] He was prone to emotional outbursts, as when he called fans "idiots" for booing Bucs' quarterback Steve Spurrier during the expansion season, and then again later when he applied the term to reporters and opposing players who criticized the team.

[16] A 1977 wave of offseason firings saw several executives replaced by men with close ties to McKay, and left the suspicion that he was attempting to surround himself with a staff that would bow easily to his will.

[21] McKay was noted for using the press to criticize players,[22] as when he complained about a young running back's pass-catching ability by sarcastically referring to him as "fabulous".

[23] He responded to the ensuing controversy by repeatedly stating, "all of the players played lovely" at the following week's postgame press conference, despite the game having been a loss that eliminated the team from playoff contention.

[25] A public apology was required after he leveled a string of expletives against a group of fans who had directed racist comments at his players.

[27] He enraged the New York Jets and incurred a large league fine in his final game, in which his attempt to secure an NFL yardage record for running back James Wilder Sr. went to such extremes as to order the defense to lie down and allow the Jets to score a touchdown, in order to quickly regain possession of the ball.

McKay became famous for many of his humorous answers during press conferences, for which Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil called him "Dial-a-Quote".