Kent Austin

Infobox Gridiron football person
team=

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ImageWidth=220
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status=
import=
number=5
coaching_years=2003
2004-2006
2007
2008-present
coaching_teams=Ottawa Renegades (QBs)
Toronto Argonauts (offence)
Saskatchewan Roughriders (head)
Ole Miss (offence)
career_highlights=
CFLAllStar=
Awards=
*1989 Grey Cup MVP (Offence)
*2007 Annis Stukus Trophy
Honors=
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Records=
CFHOF=
Name=Kent Austin
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1963|06|25
Birthplace=Natick, Massachusetts, U.S.
Position=QB
College= Ole Miss
NFLDraftedYear=1986
NFLDraftedRound=12
NFLDraftedPick=312
NFL=AUS622932
DatabaseFootball=AUSTIKEN01
playing_years= 1986
1987-1993
1994
1995
1996
playing_teams= St. Louis Cardinals
Saskatchewan Roughriders
B.C. Lions
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Richard Kent Austin (born June 25, 1963 in Natick, Massachusetts) is the Offensive Coordinator for the Ole Miss Rebels and former Head Coach of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. Prior to this he was an Offensive Coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts and a Quarterbacks Coach for the Ottawa Renegades.

College career

Austin is a former starting quarterback himself. Following high school at Brentwood Academy, he went to the University of Mississippi and played quarterback in the early 1980s. He ranks second in most yards passed for in the Ole Miss records, behind only Eli Manning. Austin was an Academic All-American in each of his four college season and is a member of the University of Mississippi Sports Hall of Hame.

Professional career

After college, Austin was selected in the 12th round (312th overall) of the 1986 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played two seasons in the NFL as the team's third string quarterback, attempting a single pass.

In 1988, the Cardinals chose not to resign Austin, and he instead jumped to the CFL and joined the Roughriders, initially as their back-up quarterback. On November 26, 1989 in Toronto, Austin was at the helm of the Roughriders when they won the 1989 Grey Cup versus the Hamilton Tiger Cats, winning the MVP trophy for his 474 yars passing in the game. One of Top 10 all-time quarterbacks in CFL history, with 36,030 career passing yards on 4,700 pass attempts, completing 2709 passes (57.6%), Austin is a Roughriders legend for leading the team to its second league championship. He also threw 198 touchdown passes and 191 interceptions in his 10 CFL seasons with 4 teams.

Austin started at quarterback for the Roughriders, British Columbia Lions, and Toronto Argonauts, as well as serving as a back up for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He is one of only four CFL quarterbacks to pass for more than 6,000 yards in a single season (6,225 in 1992 with Saskatchewan). Austin won his second league championship in 1994, leading the Lions to a win in the 82nd Grey Cup on a last-second field goal.

Coaching

In 2003, Austin entered coaching as the quarterbacks coach of the Ottawa Renegades. The following year he was hired as Toronto offensive coordinator, helping lead the team to an offensive surge that allowed the franchise to win the 2004 CFL championship. He retained this position until he was hired as Roughriders head coach for the 2007 season.

On November 25, 2007, Kent Austin coached the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the 95th Grey Cup Championship beating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19. In doing so, Austin became the first head coach to win a professional football championship for the same team with which he won the championship as a quarterback. [Cole, Cam "Twice as Nice", National Post, 2007-11-22 http://www.nationalpost.com/news/toronto/story.html?id=6763efc8-792e-4371-9245-e8bc7991cb9c Retrieved 2007-11-25.] Interestingly, he did it in his first year as head coach, and at the exact same stadium where he won the cup as a player, 18 years earlier. His performance as head coach won him the 2007 CFL season Annis Stukus Trophy as coach of the year. [Cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2008/02/27/austin-coachofyear.html| title=Austin named CFL's top coach for 2007| date=2007-02-27| publisher=CBC.ca]

On January 16, 2008, Austin accepted the job as Offensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi, his alma mater, to serve under head coach Houston Nutt.

Trivia

In the Columbo episode "A Bird in the Hand..." (air date 11/22/92), footage from a Saskatchewan Roughrider and Edmonton Eskimo game was utilized to portray a fictional game played by the movie's football team "The Stallions". As the footage showed Kent Austin playing and wearing the #5 jersey, the actor quarterback utilized that number throughout the movie. When a scene required watching the quarterback in play, they simply used footage of Kent Austin.

CFL Coaching Record

References

External links

* [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=AUSTIKEN01 DatabaseFootball.com profile]
* [http://www.saskriders.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=31 Saskatchewan Roughriders coaching staff]