A 30-year coaching veteran, Mike Markuson is in his first season as an assistant coach at UTSA. He tutors the program’s offensive linemen.
Markuson spent 14 years as an assistant in the SEC, where he coached eight All-Americans, 15 all-conference honorees and 10 future NFL players, including a pair of first-round draft picks and three who were taken in the second round.
Markuson, a four-time Broyles Award nominee for the nation’s top assistant coach, comes to the Alamo City after spending the 2014 season as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Eastern Illinois. He helped the Panthers finish 11th in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing offense (236.3 ypg) and 13th in total offense (480.1 ypg). Colin Seibert earned first-team All-America and All-Ohio Valley Conference accolades at guard, while center Nick Borre and tackle Evan Kanz also collected all-league honors.
Prior to his season with Eastern Illinois, Markuson was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2013 and the offensive line coach at Wisconsin the prior year.
From 1998 to 2011, Markuson was an assistant coach under Houston Nutt at both Arkansas (1998-2007) and Mississippi (2008-11). During his tenure in the SEC he helped his teams advance to 10 bowl games as well as the 2002 and 2006 SEC Championship Games. Among the well-known players he tutored were Michael Oher, the subject of the movie “The Blind Side” and a first-team All-American and first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens in 2009; Shawn Andrews, a two-time first-team All-American and first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004; and Jonathan Luigs, the Rimington Trophy winner and a consensus All-American in 2007. All three players also won the Jacob’s Award as the SEC’s best offensive lineman.
At both SEC schools, Markuson helped develop potent rushing attacks while serving as run game coordinators for eight seasons and co-offensive coordinator for another. In his decade at Arkansas, no other league school had a more effective running game than the Razorbacks. The 2006 and 2007 seasons featured the backfield of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, with both backs rushing for more then 1,000 yards. McFadden won back-to-back Doak Walker Awards and twice was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
Prior to his tenure in the SEC, Markuson spent one season as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Boise State in 1997. He also tutored the same position for Murray State in 1993-96, helping the Racers win the Ohio Valley Conference in each of his final two years.
He began his college coaching career as the defensive line coach at South Dakota State in 1984-85. Markuson then returned to his alma mater, Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., as an assistant coach for the 1986 season.
Markuson first crossed paths with Coker when he was an offensive graduate assistant at Oklahoma State in 1987-88, where he learned from the coordinator of an offense that featured All-American running backs Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders, who won the Heisman Trophy and set the Football Bowl Subdivision single-season rushing record in his final year in Stillwater.
He then was a graduate assistant for Lou Holtz at Notre Dame for the 1989 season as the Fighting Irish went 12-1 and were ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press poll.
Markuson was the offensive line coach at Austin Peay in 1990. He then spent the next two years in the same capacity at Alabama A&M and also was the offensive coordinator in 1992.
He was a three-year football letterwinner at Farmington (Minn.) High School, where he served as team co-captain and earned all-conference honors as a senior. He went on to Hamline, where he was a four-year starter at defensive tackle and a two-time honorable mention All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection for the Pipers. He also was team co-captain as a senior.
Markuson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hamline in 1983 and a master’s degree in physical education from South Dakota State in 1986. He and his wife Dottie have one daughter, Joy, and a son, Eliot.
The Mike Markuson File
Coaching Career
· 2015-present: UTSA, assistant coach
· 2014: Eastern Illinois, assistant head coach
· 2013: Northeast Mississippi CC, offensive coordinator
· 2012: Wisconsin, assistant coach
· 2008-11: Mississippi, run game coordinator
· 2003-07: Arkansas, run game coordinator
· 1998-2002: Arkansas, assistant coach
· 1997: Boise State, offensive coordinator
· 1993-96: Murray State, assistant coach
· 1992: Alabama A&M, offensive coordinator
· 1991: Alabama A&M, assistant coach
· 1990: Austin Peay, assistant coach
· 1989: Notre Dame, graduate assistant
· 1987-88: Oklahoma State, graduate assistant
· 1986: Hamline, assistant coach
· 1984-85: South Dakota State, assistant coach
· 1983: Farmington (Minn.) High School, assistant coach
Professional Players Coached
· Shawn Andrews — Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants (first round)
· Brandon Burlsworth — Indianapolis Colts (third round)
· Robert Felton — Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders (free agent)
· John Jerry — Miami Dolphins, New York Giants (third round)
· Jonathan Luigs — Cincinnati Bengals (fourth round)
· Michael Oher — Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans (first round)
· Tony Ugoh — Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs (second round)
Playing Experience
· 1979-82: Hamline (Minn.), defensive tackle
Education
· Bachelor's degree in psychology, Hamline, 1983
· Master's degree in physical education, South Dakota State, 1986
Personal
· Wife: Dottie
· Daughter: Joy