Larry Blakeney
Larry Blakeney (born September 21, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama) is the football head coach of the Troy Trojans at Troy University. He is the most successful coach in the history of Troy and his stint there is the 4th longest uninterrupted tenure among active head coaches in college football (behind John Gagliardi, Joe Paterno, and Frank Beamer). He is only one of two coaches to have taken a football program from Division II to Division I FBS, the other being UCF's Gene McDowell.
Blakeney was the recipient of the Johnny Vaught Lifetime Achievement Award by the All-American Football Foundation in 2000. He was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame on May 30, 2009.[1]
Playing career
Blakeney was the first sophomore to start at quarterback for Ralph Jordan at Auburn. A three-year letterman, he started eight games in 1966, scoring five touchdowns in his first four games. Blakeney lost the starting job in 1967, however, and moved to the defensive backfield in 1968. He missed the entire season with a shoulder injury, but resumed play in 1969 as Auburn posted a 9-3 record. Blakeney graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
He also lettered twice in baseball in 1968 and 1969.
Coaching career
Blakeney became a head coach at three high schools after graduation: Southern Academy (1970–71), Walker High School (1972–74) and Vestavia Hills High School (1975–76). He compiled a 50-24-2 record as a high school head coach.
He was hired on at his alma mater, Auburn, in 1977 as the offensive line assistant coach. In 1979, he was the tight end and wide receivers coach for two years and then just wide receivers from 1981 to 1990. He added on the offensive play calling duties in 1986. During the 14 seasons at Auburn, the Tigers were 110-50-3 and won four Southeastern Conference championships and were 6-2-1 in bowl games.
Troy
Blakeney became the twentieth head football coach at what was then known as Troy State University[2] on December 3, 1990. The program was officially still a Division II program, but were already approved to transition to Division I-AA the following season. He took over a program that had won two national championships the previous decade, but were 13-17 the previous three years.
The first full year at Division I-AA, the Troy State Trojans made it to the semifinal game and finished 12-1-1, 10-0-1 in the regular season. This marked the first undefeated, regular, full season of Troy State Trojans football and they finished ranked first in the end of season poll by Sports Network. In 1995, the team improved on that record finishing 11-0 in the regular season for the first undefeated, tie-less season in history. During the eight seasons the team was a member of I-AA football, they made the playoffs seven seasons and won the Southland Conference championship three times and made the playoff semifinals twice.
Troy State transitioned to Division I-A in 2001. During that season they defeated three Division I-A schools, including their first win over a BCS conference school, Mississippi State. The transition makes Blakeney one of two coaches to ever take a football team from Division II to I-A (the other is UCF’s Gene McDowell).
Blakeney earned his first bowl win in 2006, beating the Rice Owls football team 41-17 in the New Orleans Bowl.
Coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy State Trojans (D-II) (Independent) (1991) | |||||||||
| 1991 | Trojans | 5-6 | |||||||
| Troy State Trojans (I-AA transition) (Independent) (1992) | |||||||||
| 1992 | Trojans | 10-1 | |||||||
| D-II transition: | 15-7 | ||||||||
| Troy State Trojans (I-AA) (Independent) (1993–1995) | |||||||||
| 1993 | Trojans | 12-1-1 | I-AA Semifinal | 1 | |||||
| 1994 | Trojans | 8-4 | I-AA First Round | 12 | |||||
| 1995 | Trojans | 11-1 | I-AA First Round | 3 | |||||
| Troy State Trojans (I-AA) (Southland Conference) (1996–2000) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Trojans | 12-2 | 5-1 | 1st | I-AA Semifinal | 4/12 | |||
| 1997 | Trojans | 5-6 | 2-5 | T-6th | |||||
| 1998 | Trojans | 8-4 | 5-2 | T-2nd | I-AA First Round | ||||
| 1999 | Trojans | 11-2 | 6-1 | T-1st | I-AA Quarterfinal | 13/11 | |||
| 2000 | Trojans | 9-3 | 7-0 | 1st | I-AA First Round | 9/9 | |||
| I-AA: | 86-23-1 (.782) | 25-18 (.582) | |||||||
| Troy State Trojans (I-A transition) (Independent) (2001) | |||||||||
| 2001 | Trojans | 7-4 | |||||||
| I-A transition: | 7-4 | ||||||||
| Troy State Trojans (I-A) (Independent) (2002–2003) | |||||||||
| 2002 | Trojans | 4-8 | |||||||
| 2003 | Trojans | 6-6 | |||||||
| Troy Trojans (I-A) (Sun Belt Conference) (2004–present) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Trojans | 7-5 | 5-2 | 2nd | L, 21-34 Silicon Valley Football Classic | ||||
| 2005 | Trojans | 4-7 | 3-4 | 5th | |||||
| 2006 | Trojans | 8-5 | 6-1 | T-1st | W, 41-17 New Orleans Bowl | ||||
| 2007 | Trojans | 8-4 | 6-1 | T-1st | |||||
| 2008 | Trojans | 8-5 | 6-1 | 1st | L, 30-27 OT New Orleans Bowl | ||||
| 2009 | Trojans | 9-4 | 8-0 | 1st | L, 44-41 2OT GMAC Bowl | ||||
| 2010 | Trojans | 1-1 | 0-0 | ||||||
| I-A: | 55-45 | 34-10 | |||||||
| Total: | 154-78-1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Personal
Blakeney is married to the former Janice Powell and they have three daughters, Kelley, and twins Julie and Tiffany. All three daughters graduated from Troy. Tiffany is married and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Jason Rash and two daughters, Madeline Ann Rash and Danielle Avery Rash.
References
- ^ "Blakeney Selected to ASHOF". Troy Athletics. 2008-11-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ The school did not become Troy University until 2004.