Bryant Jacob "Jake" Coker (born August 4, 1992) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He played college football at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He won the national championship with the Alabama Crimson Tide in his senior year in 2015.

Early years

Coker attended St. Paul's Episcopal School in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. He played both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. He was ranked by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

as the 18th best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class. He committed to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in June 2010.

College career

Coker was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. As a backup to

EJ Manuel Erik Rodriguez "EJ" Manuel Jr. (born March 19, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Florida State, leading the Seminoles to an ACC championship and Orange Bowl win in his senior year, and was drafted by t ...

in 2012, he appeared in three games, completing three-of-five passes for 45 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. As a redshirt sophomore, Coker competed with

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...

for the starting quarterback job in 2013. Winston won the job and Coker was his backup until a knee injury in November caused him to miss the rest of the season. He had appeared in six games, going 18 of 36 for 250 yards and one

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. In January 2014, Coker transferred to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. He was eligible to play immediately and did not have to sit out a year after graduating from Florida State in April. In his first year at Alabama he competed for the Crimson Tide's starting job.

Blake Sims Blake Sims (born January 3, 1992) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Alabama and was the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback in 2014. Early years Sims attended Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Georg ...

won the competition with Coker as the backup. Coker again competed for the starting job in 2015, and this time won the competition. Coker helped lead the Crimson Tide to win the 2016

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

National Championship Game against the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

, with a final score of 45–40. On January 30, 2016, Coker was the starting quarterback for the South in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. In one quarter, he was 3-of-8 passing for 23 yards and led his team to the first touchdown of the game.

Professional career

On April 30, 2016, Coker signed a free agent deal with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

after going undrafted in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He was released by the team on August 29, 2016, as part of a roster cut to 75 players. On April 21, 2017, after being unable to fully recover from knee surgery, Coker announced his retirement from football. “I’m just going to move on,” Coker said. “I had another surgery when I was with the (Arizona) Cardinals, and that was kind of the last thing. I didn’t want another surgery. I’m just kind of ready to move on. I’m excited about what’s ahead.”

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coker, Jake 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Mobile, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football quarterbacks Florida State Seminoles football players Alabama Crimson Tide football players Arizona Cardinals players