Mike Archer (born July 26, 1953) 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 wi ...

coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator for the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operatio ...

. From 1987 to 1990, Archer was the head football coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where he compiled a record of 27–18–1. Archer has also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), and with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Coaching career

Archer came to

as an assistant coach in 1984 after being both a player and an assistant coach at the

. He replaced

Bill Arnsparger William Stephen Arnsparger (December 16, 1926 – July 17, 2015) was an American college and professional football coach. He was born and raised in Paris, Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, and graduated from Mi ...

as the

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Th ...

head coach in 1987 when Arnsparger left to become the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Archer was Arnsparger's defensive coordinator in 1985 and 1986, and was Arnsparger's hand-picked successor. When Archer took the LSU head coaching job, he was 34 years old, the youngest head coach in

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

football. Archer was chosen over a number of interviewed candidates, which reportedly included Steve Spurrier,

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he le ...

, and Mack Brown. Arnsparger later hired Spurrier at head football coach at Florida. In 1987,

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

finished the season ranked #5 in both major polls with a 10–1–1 record, blemished only by a tie against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and a loss to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. The latter was all that kept the Tigers out of the

1988 Sugar Bowl The 1988 Sugar Bowl was the 54th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1987–88 bowl game season, it featured sixth-ranked Auburn Tigers ...

; Auburn went instead. It was LSU's first 10-win season in more than 25 years. Archer's Tigers followed up with an 8–4 record and a share of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

title in 1988. The 1988 season was famous for the " Earthquake Game," a 7–6 victory over Auburn. While LSU and Auburn shared the conference title as a result, Auburn got the SEC's berth in the Sugar Bowl due to a higher poll ranking, and LSU lost in the Hall of Fame Bowl. After back-to-back losing seasons in 1989 and 1990, Archer was forced to resign. He lost four of his last five games in 1990, the lone win coming in the season finale against

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. Archer was replaced by

Curley Hallman Hudson "Curley" Hallman (born September 3, 1947) is a former American football player and current coach. He was hired as the Defensive Cooridinator for the University of Alabama on January 13, 2023. He served as the head coach at the University of ...

, previously the head coach at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

. After leaving LSU, Archer remained in coaching, but strictly as a defensive assistant. In 1991, he became

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

s coach at Virginia. In 1993, he moved on to coach linebackers at Kentucky and was named assistant head coach there in 1995. Archer jumped to the NFL in 1996, where he served as linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers for seven years. He returned to Kentucky as defensive coordinator in 2003. Archer resigned from his position at Kentucky on January 10, 2007, to accept the same job at NC State, where he was reunited with Tom O'Brien. Archer and O'Brien worked together at Virginia from 1991 to 1992. In 2014, Archer rejoined the staff at Virginia, where O'Brien was the associate head coach. In May 2017, he became linebacker coach with the

of the CFL. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2018 season. In 2019, Archer joined former Argonauts head coach

Marc Trestman Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coac ...

at the

of the XFL.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Mike 1953 births Living people American football defensive backs American football punters Kentucky Wildcats football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Miami Hurricanes football players Pittsburgh Steelers coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches Tampa Bay Vipers coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches People from State College, Pennsylvania