Recruiting Areas: Canada, Tennessee.
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Watch Coach Austin on Sidelines
Kent Austin - a motivator, creative thinker and innovator - took the challenge of turning around the culture of Cornell football and bring back a winning tradition of one of the most historic programs in college football history. The early returns have been outstanding, and the best is yet to come.
Austin was named The Roger J. Weiss '61 Coach of Cornell Football by Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education, on Jan. 27, 2010 and immediately started to turn the Cornell program around.
In just his second season on the sidelines, Austin guided the Big Red to a 5-5 record, its first season at .500 or better since 2007. Cornell also tripled its Ivy win total and finished 3-4. The Big Red offense closed the season with a school record eight consecutive contests scoring at least 24 points, including a modern day school record 62 points in a win over Columbia. The 110 points scored in its final two games were the most in consecutive games by a Cornell team since 1930. At the end of the year, Cornell set team records for passing yards (3415), completion percentage (.672), pass efficiency (159.8), yards per pass (9.1), passing yards per game (341.5), total offense yards per play (6.34), all-purpose yards per game (564.7), points scored (313), PAT kicks made (36), kick return yards (1259) and kick return touchdowns (2).
In all, 11 players were named to the All-Ivy squad and four captured first-team honors (quarterback Jeff Mathews, wide receiver Shane Savage, place-kicker Brad Greenway, return specialist Rashad Campbell), the most in both categories since 2005. Mathews, the Bushnell Cup winner as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, set school and conference records for passing yardage in a game (548 yards at Penn) and season (3,412 yards), while also setting Big Red records for touchdown passes (25), total offense (3,274 yards), completion percentage (.679) and passing efficiency (162.60). The first sophomore captain in Cornell football history, he ranked third nationally in passing yards per game and pass efficiency, fourth in total offense and 10th in points responsible for. Savage led the Ivy League in receptions (65), receiving yards (1080) and receiving touchdowns (12). Greenway led the Ivy League in scoring (7.5 points per game), ranking 41st nationally, and set the Cornell kick scoring record for a career (189 points) and season (75 points). He was also a finalist for the Fred Mitchell Award.
Off the field, Cornell had three Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District selections and defensive back Nick Booker-Tandy earned second-team Academic All-America accolades. In two seasons, Austin's players have collected four academic all-district honors and four have been named Academic All-Ivy.
The immediate results gave great hope to Cornell football fans. In his first season on the sidelines in 2010, Austin and his staff took a team that featured as many as 27 freshmen and sophomores on the two-deep with 33 player starts going to rookies. He was key to the development of Mathews. a unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year, who set school freshman records across the board. In all, the team's top four rushers and top 11 receivers were underclassmen. He earned his first collegiate head coaching victory with a 21-12 triumph at Bucknell and topped Princeton 21-19 for his first Ivy League win.
Austin, 48, 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 the 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, the British Columbia Lions and the 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.
* - Updated December 14, 2011
