Larry Coker named first head coach at UT-San Antonio

[Young Drachma]

Larry Coker to coach Texas-San Antonio football team - ESPN

SAN ANTONIO -- Former Miami coach Larry Coker has been hired to lead the new Texas-San Antonio football program, his first coaching job since the Hurricanes fired him in 2006.

UTSA announced the decision Thursday. A news conference is scheduled for Friday.

Texas-San Antonio plans to play its first season in 2011 in the Football Championship Subdivision. Coker was among three finalists for the job, along with Tulsa assistant Paul Randolph and Northwest Missouri State coach Mel Tjeerdsma.

Coker's hiring was first reported by San Antonio television station WOAI.

A phone message left at Coker's home in Florida on Thursday was not immediately returned.

Coker, who has been working for ESPN as a college football analyst, went 60-15 with the Hurricanes and led them to the 2001 national championship. He was fired in 2006 after a tumultuous season in which the team went 6-6.

That season was marred by problems off the field, including an infamous brawl during the Florida International game that resulted in the suspension of 31 players. Coker has talked of returning to coaching since being fired, and his name has been linked to several openings.

In a 2007 interview with AP, Coker said it only took "about 30 seconds" before Miami's 2006 brawl with FIU came up during interviews for coaching jobs elsewhere.

Coker reached the pinnacle of college football in 2001, guiding Miami to a 12-0 record and a national championship victory over Nebraska in his rookie season as a head coach.

Now, the 60-year-old Oklahoma native will pilot a program just getting off the ground.

San Antonio is the largest city in the nation without an NFL or Division I-A football team. UTSA has about 28,000 students, and an overwhelming majority approved a referendum in 2007 that served as a major step in establishing a football program.

The Roadrunners plan to play in the Alamodome, the 65,000-seat downtown stadium built in 1993 that never attracted an NFL franchise like the city hoped.

Coker won the Big East each of his first three seasons at Miami. He started off coaching in the 1970s at an Oklahoma high school before moving on to assistant jobs with Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

[Young Drachma]

Apparently they got $84 million to take the school to FCS college football, to build facilities to move all of their programs to 1-A level. They're looking to join the Sun Belt, Conference USA or WAC after they get things started. Football will eventually join the Southland, apparently the first season will be played as an independent.

[ColtCrazy]

Hmm, so how many will look to UT-SA as a nice dynasty to build on in 2011?

How far Coker has fallen, but it has to be somewhat exciting to be the first coach moving up.

[rjolley]

Coach Tjeerdsma should've gotten it. What he's done with the Bearcats over the past decade hhas been amazing, though I'd hate to see him go.

And yes, I'm biased.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Hmm, so how many will look to UT-SA as a nice dynasty to build on in 2011?

If you're talking video games, I would say no one since they are going to be in FCS and EA will probably still not have this feature ported over to next gen systems.

I think it's a great hire. Coker brings a big name to the school which should help sell tickets and bring in recruits. I believe FCS schools have lower academic standards so he'll probably be able to nab a lot of Texas high schoolers who couldn't get into FBS schools. Playing at the Alamodome has to also be a great selling point.

[Young Drachma]

UTSA now plans to go it alone in football

Switching gears from a tentative plan to join the Southland Conference in football, UTSA has charted a new course for its fledgling program.

University of Texas at San Antonio athletic director Lynn Hickey said the school, which is slated to begin play in 2011, would attempt to reach the NCAA’s top flight as an independent by its fifth season in 2015.

Should they do so, the Roadrunners would become one of just four independent football teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). They would remain there indefinitely until an opportunity to move their entire athletic program into an FBS conference presents itself.

[cuervo72]

"Got" $84M from where?

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

"Got" $84M from where?

Clinton Manges, I presume.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

"Got" $84M from where?

Well, at least $22m of it comes from the taxpayers.

UTSA awards athletic complex design contract to San Antonio, Dallas firms - San Antonio Business Journal:
These stadiums will be partially funded by revenue generated by a venue tax approved by Bexar County voters in May of 2008. UTSA was allotted $15 million from that tax toward its athletic complex.

UTSA will use another $1.5 million approved by Bexar County voters in a 2003 bond election and $5.5 million from a municipal bond election approved by San Antonio voters in 2007 to help pay for the construction of the complex.