UTSA Roadrunners football program represents University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the sport of American football. The Roadrunners compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the West Division of Conference USA (CUSA). They are coached by Frank Wilson, who started in 2016. UTSA has produced the programs first postseason bowl appearance in 2016. The Roadrunners play their home games at the Alamodome which has a seating capacity of 65,000. They routinely pump music into the Alamodome to increase noise levels.
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History
Start-up and organization (2006-2010)
In February 2006, the University of Texas at San Antonio approached Carr Sports Associates, Inc. to conduct a feasibility study and make recommendations to the university regarding an expansion of the athletics department. In November of that year, UTSA was given the final results of that study. Following the recommendations of CSA, the university facilitated a student referendum in September 2007 to gauge support for a fee increase. Nearly 66% of student voters supported the fee increase.
In December 2008, after the approval of the UTSA administration, the university presented the University of Texas System Board of Regents with a long-term plan that followed the feasibility study recommendations to build an $84 million athletic complex and the fee increase for their approval. It was approved by the board soon thereafter.
In January 2009, UTSA launched a campaign to raise money for the program dubbed the "Step Up UTSA" initiative. With a goal of $15 million USD, the campaign is meant to help fund coaches salaries, player scholarships, and construction of practice fields.
On February 4, 2009, former Miami head coach Larry Coker announced he had applied for the head coaching job. Later that month it was announced that Coker along with Tulsa's co-defensive coordinator Paul Randolph and Mel Tjeerdsma, head coach from Northwest Missouri State were the finalists for the position. On March 5, 2009, the San Antonio Express-News reported that Larry Coker, who had won the 2001 national championship as head coach of the Hurricanes, had earned the position. The next day Coker was officially announced as the Roadrunners' first head football coach in a press conference. On April 22, 2009, Coker announced the addition of Mike Menefee, Eric Roark, and David Ross to the roster as assistant football coaches.
On June 4, 2009 UTSA unveiled the team's inaugural helmet design. The design was done by Ohio-based Rickabaugh Graphics, and had final approval by Coker. On January 20, 2010, the program announced the hiring of Travis Bush as offensive coordinator. Bush had previously worked in the same capacity for his alma mater, Texas State.
Although plans for conference and subdivision affiliation were unclear, Lynn Hickey, UTSA's athletic director had strongly hinted at plans for UTSA to join their current conference, the Southland Conference (a member of the Division I FCS subdivision) in September 2009. However, in late January 2010, Hickey stated that the football program would attempt to join the Division I FBS subdivision by 2014 instead, citing an overall disappointment for previous plans. This entailed UTSA joining the subdivision as an independent until finding admission to a conference.
On February 3, 2010, National Signing Day, UTSA officially announced their inaugural signing class. The twenty-seven students consisted mainly of incoming freshmen, including two transfer students who were currently sophomores at the university. Seven of the student athletes were considered all-state performers from their high school careers. The class was heavily recruited from the Greater San Antonio area, as fourteen players were from such area high schools. Each player for the inaugural class was redshirted during the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
On March 16, 2010 UTSA announced Neal Neathery as defensive coordinator for the team. Neathery had last served in the same position for Drake.
In an effort to move the program to the FBS, UTSA had discussions with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) about joining that conference after they lost Boise State to the Mountain West Conference during the summer of 2010.
In July 2010, the Northside Independent School District announced a three-year agreement that allowed UTSA to use Dub Farris Athletic Complex for practice. On September 15, 2010, UTSA held its first-ever practice at the stadium.
UTSA began practicing in August 2010, and began competing as an NCAA Division I FCS independent on September 3, 2011.
On November 10, 2010, it was reported that the WAC had offered UTSA, along with fellow Southland conference member Texas State and Sun Belt Conference member Denver an invitation to join its conference that would take effect in 2012. Denver would join as a non-football school. Such an invitation was an effort to offset the departures of Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada to the Mountain West Conference during the early stages of the 2010-13 NCAA conference realignment. The following day, UTSA announced it had accepted the invitation.
Larry Coker era (2011-2015)
UTSA played its first game against Northeastern State on September 3, 2011 at the Alamodome. With attendance of 56,743, UTSA set a record for the highest-attended game for an NCAA Division I FCS start-up program. UTSA finished their first season with a record of 4-6, and set a record for the largest average home attendance for a new football program with 35,521. This topped the previous record from South Florida of 33,038 in 1997.
UTSA followed up its initial campaign with an 8-4 second season as an FBS transitional member, including going 3-3 in the WAC. UTSA closed out its season with a 38-31 win over rival Texas State before an announced crowd of 39,032 at the Alamodome. For the 2012 season, UTSA averaged 29,226 in attendance. Due to being a transitional FBS member, UTSA was not eligible for a bowl.
In April 2012, it was announced that UTSA would join Conference USA on July 1, 2013, following its approval from the University of Texas System Board of Regents to allow the school to accept an invitation, negotiate and finalize terms with the league.
In its third campaign, UTSA played a full schedule of FBS opponents. In their second year of 2 transitional FBS seasons, UTSA was eligible for the C-USA championship. UTSA was only eligible for a bowl under certain criteria, such as if there were not enough bowl eligible teams. UTSA counted as an FBS opponent for bowl eligibility in 2013, and becomes fully bowl eligible in 2014. UTSA opened the 2013 season with a victory on the road against MWC member New Mexico, before losing at home to Big 12 member Oklahoma State before an announced crowd of 40,977. For the season, despite being picked last in the preseason media poll, UTSA finished at 7-5 overall, with a 6-2 record in conference, and averaged 29,214 in attendance. UTSA finished second in the West division, behind Rice. As a second year FBS transition team, UTSA however, was not selected for a bowl.
In UTSA's 4th year of play, UTSA opened with a 27-7 win over Houston in the opening of new TDECU Stadium. UTSA, however, finished with a disappointing 4-8 overall record and 3-5 in conference play. For the season, UTSA averaged 27,576 fans per game, including a season high of 33,472 against Arizona.
In UTSA's 5th year of play, in 2015, UTSA finished with a disappointing 3-9 overall record. After a difficult non conference slate which saw UTSA go 0-4, UTSA finished at 3-5 in the conference, tied for 3rd out of 6 teams in the western division.
Larry Coker resigned on January 5, 2016, after compiling a 26-32 record in his 5 years as the Roadrunners head coach
In the 2016 NFL Draft UTSA tight end David Morgan II became the school's first player to be drafted when he was selected in the 6th round (188th overall) by the Minnesota Vikings as well as the program's first All-American.
Frank Wilson era (2016-present)
In January 2016, Frank Wilson was hired as UTSA's second ever head coach, replacing Larry Coker. Wilson helped lead the Roadrunners to their first bowl game in program history, the 2016 New Mexico Bowl.
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Program achievements
UTSA began play as an independent in NCAA Division I Football Championship division during its inaugural season (2011), then joining the Western Athletic Conference for the following season (2012). The team currently competes in Conference USA, which it joined in 2013.
- Years listed for Bowl victories are seasons for which they occurred.
Bowl games
UTSA has played in 1 bowl game, compiling a record of 0-1.
Rivalries
North Texas
The series was first played in 2013 as UTSA joined North Texas as conference foes in CUSA. The rivalry quickly became established in the first meeting between the two teams in 2013 as UTSA's win kept North Texas from playing in the conference championship. The rivalry is either played in Denton or San Antonio. In total the two squads have met on the gridiron 4 times with UTSA holding a 3-1 lead in the series.
Texas State
The I-35 Rivalry, is the Texas State-UTSA rivalry. The teams was first played in 2012 as conference foes until the end of that season as Texas State moved to the Sun Belt Conference and UTSA moved to CUSA which halted the rivalry. The series will be renewed in 2017 and play every year except for the 2019 season. The rivalry is either played in San Marcos or San Antonio. In total the two squads have met on the gridiron once with UTSA holding a 1-0 lead in the series.
All-time record vs. CUSA teams
Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current CUSA opponents:
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of June 29, 2017
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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