UTSA football good for Coker, San Antonio and Valley

McALLEN — He shook hands, posed for photos and signed autographs.

Larry Coker’s celebrity status was well in tact at Jackson’s All-American Sports Grill on Thursday. And if not for the calendars establishing that it’s 2010, many would have thought it was 2001 and Coker was fresh off his lone football National Championship at the University of Miami.

Coker led the Hurricanes to a win against Nebraska in the 2001 Rose Bowl for the national title. Coker and the Canes had a chance to repeat the next season but lost the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State in double overtime. Miami never regained the same level of success under Coker and after the 2006 season, Coker and Miami parted ways.

The veteran coach served as an analyst for ESPN until 2009. That’s when UTSA announced that Coker would serve as the Roadrunners first ever football coach.

McAllen and even San Antonio are a long way from Coral Gables, Fla. and The U, where Hurricane Football is a way of life.

But Coker is now in Texas, where football is probably more important. And even after being out of coaching for four years, Coker refuses to call his move to San Antonio a comeback.

Instead, he sees it as an opportunity. For himself, UTSA, San Antonio and the Valley.

“It’s a great opportunity to coach these young men and build something from the start,” said Coker, who’s in the Valley for the inaugural UTSA Advance football Camp at PSJA Stadium.

“We have a strong support group there at UTSA and we have a great chance to start something good for San Antonio and South Texas. This all didn’t just happen. (UTSA) president Ricardo Romo and (athletic director) Lynn Hickey have done a great job of getting this program off the ground. It was a great opportunity for me and I want to take advantage of it.”

But Coker’s not the only winner in all this.

The city of San Antonio has embraced the new football program from the start and a fanaticism for the Roadrunners football team exists and rivals many across the nation. The immediate and lasting economic impact on the city is great.

But Coker sees the start of a football program at UTSA as being beneficial to the Valley as much as the Alamo City.

“It’s a good marriage between the Valley and UTSA,” Coker said. “And I’m not just offering lip service. That’s why I’m here with my coaches. A lot of people are right that the Valley is sometimes overlooked. Everyone knows how to get to Dallas or Houston but not many know about McAllen or the Valley.”

Even Coker hadn’t been here before making a trip down to McAllen when recruiting McHI’s Nick Garza and Scott Inskeep. But he knows today’s football camp at PSJA Stadium is an example of Division I football’s presence in the Valley.

“We want to be the team for South Texas,” Coker said. “There is no Division I or professional team down here. We have a 60,000-seat stadium (Alamodome) and a 30,000-member student body. We have a lot to offer all of South Texas. We want all kids from the Valley to see us as the place to go get their education. It’s a great opportunity for both of us. There’s a lot of pride in the Valley and I respect that.”

PSJAISD athletic director Orlando Garcia is a UTSA alum and was very excited to see his alma mater finally field a football team after all these years.

“San Antonio is in the heart of Texas, the country’s biggest football state,” Garcia said. “We’ve got ourselves a top-notch coach and San Antonio is a great place to be. Eventually we’re going to have one of the premier Division I football programs in the country. I commend the leadership at UTSA. They made all the right moves and now we have Division I football.”

Coker said their priority for the 2010-11 school year is to build team chemistry and focus on fundamentals.

UTSA plays its first season in 2011, when it will compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (the old I-AA) independent. The Roadrunners will play another independent FCS schedule again in 2012 before counting as Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in 2013 then as a full FBS program in 2014.

“Like any coaching staff we’re competing to win football games,” Coker said. “We’ll have all redshirts that first year but we’re going to establish ourselves and better ourselves every week.”

UTSA’s first roster consists of 26 players including 25 from Texas and 14 from the San Antonio area. The lone out-of-stater is from Colorado but has family in Texas.

Registration for today’s camp starts at 8 a.m. and the camp runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $50 and Coker will offer hands on instruction.

Eladio Jaimez covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 430-6285 or via e-mail at eladioj@valleystar.com.