Larry Coker, who won a national championship in 2001 at Miami, is out as the head coach and architect of the UTSA Roadrunners, according to Football Scoop. This would mean 27 of 128 FBS programs will have changed head coaches this offseason.
Former Miami head coach Larry Coker out at UTSA, according to report
The man who built the Roadrunners from scratch is reportedly moving on.
Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Coker spent the last five seasons building a UTSA team that had never played a game before 2011, guiding it from FCS to FBS. He led the Roadrunners to an 8-4 record in 2012 and a 7-5 mark in 2013, but the transitioning team was ineligible to receive a bowl bid due to NCAA bylaws. They fell to 4-8 in 2014 before bottoming out at 3-9.
This stop in Conference USA was a far cry from his last coaching opportunity. At his previous job, Coker inherited a world-class Hurricanes team when Butch Davis jumped to the NFL in 2001. That unprecedented first-year success brought plenty of accolades; Coker was named the AFCA Coach of the Year, the Big East Coach of the Year and won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award for leading the ‘Canes to an NCAA championship.
Miami ran out to a 12-0 record in 2002, but fell short in the title when it lost to Ohio State in a double-overtime Fiesta Bowl thriller. Coker’s ‘Canes never got that close to the crown again.
The man who was once the hottest name in coaching was fired by the university in 2006 after posting a 6-6 record (3-5 against ACC opponents) in his final season.
Before latching on with Miami, Coker was an offensive guru who helped develop high-powered scoring attacks as an assistant for Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Ohio State. He guided Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders to Hall of Fame careers with Oklahoma State from 1983-1989 and helped design a top-10 Oklahoma offense in 1990.
He had been out of football for a little more than two years when he accepted the head coaching job with UTSA.
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