Ex-49ers coach George Seifert to be keynote speaker at Santa Rosa Junior College football fundraiser

Here’s your chance to pick the brain of a football genius.

Former San Francisco 49ers head coach George Seifert will be the keynote speaker next month at a fundraising dinner for the Santa Rosa Junior College football program.

Tickets for the May 14 dinner are $75, with an option to attend a “meet and greet” with the two-time Super Bowl winner for $125.

Former 49ers coaches Bill Walsh and Jim Harbaugh have spoken at previous fundraisers for the football team.

Last year’s drive raised more than $40,000 to help fund a new blocking sled, knee braces, helmets, meal money and travel money. This year, the program is hoping to raise $50,000 to pay for field equipment, video equipment, meal money, travel expenses and travel gear for players, football coach and athletic director Lenny Wagner said.

Last year, the Bear Cubs had 28 players on scholarship and played in their third consecutive bowl game, defeating Modesto College 38-18 in the North State Bowl.

Seifert, like Harbaugh and Walsh before him, promises to be an attractive draw.

Born in San Francisco, Seifert, 76, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Utah, his alma mater, in 1964. He went on to coach at Westminster College, Iowa, Oregon and Stanford before landing the head coaching gig at Cornell University in 1975.

He returned to Stanford as the defensive backs coach until 1979. The following year, he broke into the pro ranks as defensive backs coach for the Niners.

From 1983 to 1988, he was the Niners’ defensive coordinator, when he was tapped to take the helm in 1989. He remained the 49ers head coach until 1996.

From 1999 to 2001, he coached the Carolina Panthers.

Seifert has the career record for wins as a Niners coach (98), and was a two-time NFC champion (1989, 1994) and Super Bowl winner (XXIV, XXIX).

Overall as a head coach, he ended with a 114–62 regular-season record and 10–5 mark in the postseason.

The dinner will be at the SRJC Shone Farm in Windsor. The “meet and greet” begins at 5:30 p.m., with general admission starting at 6 p.m.

The event planning committee is seeking sponsors, including those for food, wine and auction items. For more information, contact Wagner at 527-4393.

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 521-5470 or lori.carter@press?democrat.com.