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What They're Saying About Coach Austin
Coach Kent Austin - Fact Sheet

ITHACA, N.Y. –  Kent Austin, who spent five years as a successful coach in the Canadian Football League and the last two years as offensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi, has been named The Roger J. Weiss '61 Coach of Cornell Football by Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. Austin becomes the 26th head coach in school history and takes over for Jim Knowles '87, who resigned in January to become defensive coordinator at Duke University. Austin was formally introduced to the Cornell community this morning at a press conference in the Hall of Fame Room in Schoellkopf Memorial Hall this morning.





"We wanted a winner, and we got a winner; as I found out in the last month plus 4 days we got way more than a winner," said Andy Noel, the Meaken*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. " We have a gentleman who has character, ethics and approaches the game the right way for the right reasons; he's a family man, he's intensely competitive and determined and his last two years at Ole Miss where they've gone 9-4 consecutive post seasons and won two Cotton Bowls. I can tell you that he is a relentless recruiter because 90 percent of the time that I caught up with Kent he was on the way to a recruits house, on the way back from a recruit's house or in a guidance office."

"I have a real deep rooted belief system of what it takes to win," Austin said "It doesn't make my method, the best method and it doesn't mean that my belief system is the only way to approach it. But I know that it has worked for me. Why would I take this job if I didn't belief that that same belief system couldn't work the same way here? I didn't come here to lose. If I didn't think we could win, I wouldn't be here, I promise you that."

Austin, 46, directed potent offenses in his two years at Ole Miss, helping the Rebels to an 18-8 overall record and a pair of Cotton Bowl victories. his offense averaged 30.8 points and posted eight games with at least 40 points. The Ole Miss offense ran up 405.0 yards per game with great balance (185.0 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns, 220.0 passing yards and 49 touchdowns), and was effective moving the chains (20.1 first downs per game) and converting chances in the red zone (.838 scoring percentage with 58 touchdowns in 99 red zone opportunities).

In 2008, his first year as offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Mississippi went 9-4 (5-3 SEC) just one season after posting a 3-8 record with zero conference wins. That marked the program's best one-year turnaround since 1947. The squad finished second in the SEC West after being picked to place fifth in the preseason, and ended the year No. 14 in the final national polls. Ole Miss knocked off three top 20 foes on the road, including the defending national champion (No. 18 LSU) and the eventual national champion (No. 4 Florida). The third victory was a resounding 47-34 defeat of No. 8 Texas Tech in the 2009 Cotton Bowl. The squad moved from 12th in the SEC in scoring (20.1 ppg. in 2007) to second (32.1 ppg. in 2008) in one season.



The 2009 squad climbed as high as No. 4 in the national rankings and topped No. 8 LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas en route to a second straight berth in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, in which Ole Miss prevailed over No. 18 Oklahoma State, 21-7. After finishing with a 9-4 record (3-3 SEC), the Rebels were ranked No. 20 in the final Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the USA TODAY Top 25 coaches poll. Austin's prize pupil was quarterback Jevan Snead, who passed for 5,394 yards in two seasons with 46 touchdowns in the air before declaring for the 2010 NFL Draft.

Prior to his time in Oxford, Austin spent 15 seasons in the CFL as a player, assistant coach and head coach, winning Grey Cup titles at each step. In his only season as head coach, Austin directed Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup title in 2007 and earned CFL Coach of the Year honors. His protege, quarterback Kerry Joseph, was named the league's Most Outstanding Player. Austin had previously served as offensive coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts from 2004-06, helping the team to a Grey Cup title in 2005 and coaching league Most Outstanding Player Damon Allen. He began his coaching career as quarterbacks coach with the Ottawa Renegades after his retirement as a player in 2003.

Austin had a successful 11-year playing career, including 10 in the CFL. He spent the 1986 campaign in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals after being selected in the 12th round of the NFL Draft. He then moved to the CFL, where he played 10 seasons total for Saskatchewan, Toronto, British Columbia Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers and set numerous league passing records in the process. He remains the league's ninth all-time leading passer (36,030 yards), while his .576 completion percentage ranks third behind only Doug Flutie and Tom Clements. He is one of just four players to pass for 6,000 yards in a season when he totaled 6,225 yards in 1992.  During the 1989 season with the Roughriders, Austin led the team to the Grey Cup crown, passing for 474 yards in the championship game to earn MVP honors. He also won a Grey Cup as quarterback in 1994 under center for British Columbia.



Austin was a four-year letter winner at Mississippi and still remains among the all-time passing leaders for the Rebels. He ranks second in career completions (556) and attempts (981), third in passing yardage (6,184) and 200-yard games (11), and fourth in passing touchdowns (31) and total offense (6,179). Austin was a three-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Week and was named to the Academic All-SEC team from 1982-85.

Academically, Austin earned the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete award in 1985 and was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate scholarship in 1986. He was elected to the University of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. Austin graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1985.

Austin and his wife, Shelley, have three children - Kendall, Kassidy and Wesley.

Few collegiate football programs have the storied history of Cornell University. With more than 120 seasons of football in the books, the Big Red has collected five national titles (1915, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1939), won more than 600 games and has had legendary players and coaches perform on historic Schoellkopf Field (the fourth-oldest stadium in the Football Championship Subdivision). Names such as Glenn "Pop" Warner and Heisman Trophy finalist and NCAA record-breaker Ed Marinaro have suited up for Cornell, while seven College Football Hall of Famers (including Warner, Gil Dobie and Carl Snavely) and multiple-time Super Bowl winner George Seifert have set the strategy as head coaches.