SAN ANTONIO – UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has added Barry Lunney Jr. to his coaching staff as associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Lunney's hire gives the Roadrunners seven full-time assistant coaches. On Thursday, Traylor named Daniel Da Prato (special teams coordinator), Nick Graham (cornerbacks), Julian Griffin (running backs), Jess Loepp (safeties/recruiting coordinator) and Matt Mattox (run game coordinator/offensive line) as assistant coaches and retained Rod Wright as the defensive line coach.
Help us welcome Barry Lunney Jr. to the Roadrunner Family as our Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator.#BirdsUp 🤙 | #DrawTheLine
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) December 13, 2019
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Lunney comes to San Antonio after spending six seasons as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator at his alma mater in Fayetteville. He took over as the interim head coach late in the 2019 season and led the Razorbacks in games against No. 1 LSU and Missouri.
Lunney brings a wealth of experience to the Roadrunners, including three seasons at Tulsa (2000-02), two at San Jose State (2003-04), nine as the offensive coordinator at Bentonville (Ark.) High School and eight combined years at Arkansas (1998-99, 2014-19).
During his time at Arkansas, he helped evolve an offensive attack into one that was spurred through its tight ends. From 2014 to 2016, Lunney developed one of the top tight ends in Arkansas history in Hunter Henry, who won the John Mackey Award and was a consensus first-team All-American as a junior in 2015. He was the first tight end taken in the 2016 NFL Draft with the 35thoverall pick by the Chargers, and he has become one of the top receiving threats in professional football.
Henry led all FBS tight ends with 739 receiving yards on 51 receptions – each career highs – and hauled in three touchdown passes in 2015. In addition, Henry and tight end mate Jeremy Sprinkle combined for a league-best 1,128 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
A year later, Sprinkle followed Henry's footsteps and was taken by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. During his senior season, Sprinkle set the Arkansas record for career TDs by a tight end with 11 and was also invited to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl.
Lunney also oversaw the transition of AJ Derby from quarterback to tight end. Derby finished fifth in the SEC with 303 receiving yards during the 2014 season and was a sixth-round draft choice of the New England Patriots despite playing the position for less than a year.
Prior to his most recent tenure at Arkansas, Lunney served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bentonville High School from 2005-13.
In his eight years at Bentonville, the Tigers won 78 games, including 25 straight in 2010-11, played in four state championship games, claiming state titles in 2008 and 2010, and won six straight 7A West Conference crowns from 2007-12. Bentonville played in three 7A state championship games and won at least 12 games in four of his last five seasons.
Before moving to the high school coaching ranks, Lunney compiled seven years of collegiate coaching experience.
Lunney spent two seasons as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at San Jose State. During his tenure, the offense produced six all-conference performers, and tight end Courtney Anderson was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL Draft. In 2003, the Spartans ranked 17th in the NCAA in passing offense and quarterback Scott Rislov ranked third in the WAC in passing efficiency and total offense.
Prior to that, Lunney spent three seasons at Tulsa, first working with quarterbacks in 2000 and 2001 and then moving to wide receivers in 2002. In 2000, quarterback Josh Blankenship ranked fifth in the WAC in total offense and receiver Don Shoals led the conference and ranked 11th in the NCAA in receptions per game.
His coaching career began with two seasons as a graduate assistant at Arkansas following a standout playing career for the Razorbacks.
Lunney lettered from 1992-95, starting 40 games at quarterback, and was a team captain on the 1995 team that played in the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history. In his first game as the starting quarterback, he led Arkansas to an upset win at No. 4 Tennessee. He left Arkansas holding school career records for passing yards, passing touchdowns, pass completions, pass attempts and total offensive plays. Lunney also played baseball at Arkansas. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos out of high school in 1992 and by the Minnesota Twins in 1996 and played one season of minor league baseball in the Twins organization.
Lunney graduated from Arkansas in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology.
He and his wife, Janelle, have two sons, Luke and Levi.
UTSA Assistant Coaches (as of 12/13/19)
Daniel Da Prato, Special Teams Coordinator
Nick Graham, Cornerbacks
Julian Griffin, Running Backs
Jess Loepp, Safeties/Recruiting Coordinator
Barry Lunney Jr., Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Matt Mattox, Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line
Rod Wright, Defensive Line
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