Kenneth Paul Karcher (born July 1, 1963) is an
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 ...
coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at
East Central Community College
East Central Community College (ECCC) is a junior college located in Decatur, Mississippi. ECCC serves a five-county district: Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott and Winston counties. It opened in September 1928.
Band
The Band's name is the Wall ...
, a position he has held since January 2013. Karcher served in the same capacity at
Liberty University
Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...
from 2000 to 2005, compiling a record of 21–46.
Early life and playing career
Out of
Shaler Area High School
Shaler Area High School is a high school in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania (with a Pittsburgh mailing address). The school employed 124 teachers yielding a student teacher ratio of 1:14. The students' Race/Ethnicity breakdown was: 1,750 Caucasian, ...
, in Pennsylvania, Karcher was a highly recruited quarterback and eventually went to the University of Notre Dame. While there, he was a third-string quarterback behind
Blair Kiel. He decided to transfer after two years to
Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
, where he finished out his collegiate playing career.
Karcher went undrafted by NFL teams, and bounced around training camps before going to the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. He played in a total of four NFL games; three of those games came when he played as a replacement player while many other NFL players were on strike. The Broncos retained him for the rest of the year, and Karcher backed up
John Elway
John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL).
Elway played college f ...
while the team played in
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...
. Karcher continued to play for the Broncos for one additional season, in 1988.
Coaching career
Karcher began his coaching career in 1991 as an assistant coach at the
University of North Texas, where he coached the
Mean Green quarterbacks and receivers. The next year, he was hired by head coach
Galen Hall as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the
Orlando Thunder of the
World League of American Football. Following the suspension of the World League, Karcher returned to the college ranks as an assistant on
Johnny Majors' coaching staff at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
. During his first season, he served as the
Panthers' pass offense coordinator and quarterbacks coach, sharing coordinator duties with run offense coordinator
Charles Coe
Charles Robert Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer who is considered by many to be one of the greatest American amateurs in history. A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional either becau ...
. In March 1994, Majors put Karcher in sole charge of the offense, promoting him to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He held that position for the next three years, until Majors resignation at the end of the 1996 season.
In 1997, Karcher rejoined Galen Hall in the revamped World League, this time as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the
Rhein Fire, based in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, Germany. He helped lead the Fire to the
first winning season in the team's three-year history. Rhein finished in first place with a record of 7–3, but lost to the
Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons:
* Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2003;
* Barcelona Dragons (ELF)
The Barcelona Dragons are an American football team based in ...
in
World Bowl '97
World Bowl '97 (also referred to as World Bowl V) was the final game of the 1997 WLAF season in American football. It was the fifth championship game of the World League of American Football (WLAF), and the third since the WLAF adopted a six-team E ...
. Under his tutelage, quarterback
T. J. Rubley earned all-World League honors and was named the league's offensive most valuable player. Karcher's offense led the league in rushing yards (1,555) and ranked second in total offense (3,253). The offensive line set a league record by holding their opponents to only one sack the entire regular season.
Collegiate coaching
Karcher was named the sixth head football coach at
Liberty University
Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...
on February 18, 2000.
At Liberty, Karcher's teams underachieved. Despite this, Liberty chancellor
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...
resigned him to a 5-year contract after the 2004 season. But, he would only last one more season. After a 1–10 campaign in 2005, Karcher was fired. His final coaching record at Liberty was 21–46, with a 6–8 record in conference play (including two straight second places finishes). As of 2020, Karcher's winning percentage of .313 remains the worst win–loss percentage in
the program's history.
As a coach, Karcher stressed building character in his players through football. One such player was
Samkon Gado, a reserve while playing at Liberty. Karcher helped Gado get his foot in the door of an NFL team, and within the year Gado was the starting running back for the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
.
After his dismissal from Liberty, Karcher was the offensive coordinator at Fellowship Christian High School in Roswell, Georgia, where he led the Paladins to their first-ever winning season and a deep run in the Georgia state playoffs. He also served as the school's athletic director, and taught a 9th grade Bible class at Fellowship Christian School.
In 2008, Karcher accepted a position as the quarterbacks coach with the
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...
. He helped the
Rockets in an upset win over the
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...
, although the squad finished 3–8.
In January 2009, head coach
Ron English
Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising.
Career
English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPa ...
hired Karcher as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at
Eastern Michigan University. The
Eagles
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
finished that year with a 0–12 record, and Karcher's offense ranked 116th out of 120 teams in total yards (3,340). Since then, EMU has improved, posting a 2–10 record the following year and a 6–6 record in 2011. EMU regressed in 2012 and finished the year 2–10. After the season, in which the Eagles finished near the bottom of the conference offensive statistics, Karcher left the program.
Head coaching record
College
Personal life
Karcher is married to the former Pauline Termini and they have four children, daughters Kelly and Katie, and sons Austin and Clay.
References
External links
Eastern Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karcher, Ken
1963 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Denver Broncos players
National Football League replacement players
Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches
Liberty Flames football coaches
North Texas Mean Green football coaches
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
Rhein Fire coaches
Toledo Rockets football coaches
Tulane Green Wave football players
Junior college football coaches in the United States
Sportspeople from Pittsburgh
Players of American football from Pittsburgh