Victor Emanuel Koenning Jr. (born February 26, 1960) is a former professional

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 ...

player, and current defensive coordinator at Louisiana–Monroe. He was the interim head coach at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 2011 and was the head football coach at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

from 2000 to 2002, where he compiled a record of 5–29.

Playing career

A three-year starter and team captain at Kansas State, Koenning was the recipient of the

Paul Coffman Paul Randolph Coffman (born March 29, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for ten seasons for the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League (NFL). After ...

Award, presented to the Wildcat who displays the most outstanding leadership. Koenning was third on the team with 93 total tackles as a senior. After his collegiate career, he played two seasons (1984–1985) for the

Oklahoma Outlaws Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL).

Wyoming

Following the 1999 season, Koenning was promoted to head coach at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

after

Dana Dimel Dana August Dimel (born October 9, 1962) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at the University of Texas El Paso. Previously he was the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Kansas State Uni ...

's departure to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. In his first season as head coach, numerous injuries, a poor defensive performance (allowing 35 points per game on average), and multiple blowout losses lead to a disappointing 1-10 season. In his second season, a young and inexperienced Cowboys team finished 2-9. In his third season, the Cowboys made some improvements, especially on offense lead by future

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 ...

players

Casey Bramlet Casey Bramlet (born April 2, 1981) is a former professional gridiron football quarterback. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wyoming. He has also been a member of t ...

and

Malcom Floyd Malcom Maiuu Floyd (born September 8, 1981) is a former American professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire NFL career with San Diego after sign ...

. On October 26, 2002, Wyoming defeated

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. This was the only time Koenning defeated a Top 25 team as a head coach. However, the Cowboys once again continued to struggle. Koenning was fired at the end of the 2002 season. Wyoming's Athletic Director said about Koenning, "No one is questioning Vic's dedication and his work ethic. Unfortunately, sometimes those attributes do not necessarily translate into success." Koenning tenure at Wyoming ended with a 5-29 record, including 1-20 in

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

play.

Coaching career

Koenning started his college career as an assistant coach for the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

. After

Wayne Bolt Wayne Bolt is an American football coach who most recently serving as the defensive coordinator for Troy University. Previously to being named to the position, he served as the Director of Football Relations for Auburn University. Bolt took the ...

left

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

following the 2002 season, Koenning was hired by Larry Blakeny as his replacement where Koenning led Troy to a Top-10 ranked defense in 2004. In 2005 Koenning became

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for 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) ...

. Clemson ranked in the top 25 for scoring defense and total defense during his tenure. It was ninth in total defensive in 2007. Koenning resigned his position on December 2, 2008. Koenning's defense was the highlight of the Clemson 2008 season. He was hired at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

by head coach

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

on December 8, 2008 to be assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator (alongside

Chris Cosh Chris Cosh (born May 12, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the defensive coordinator at Hampton University. Playing career Cosh played linebacker for the Virginia Tech Hokies from 1977 to 1981.

) at his alma mater."Vic Koenning Named to Football Staff"
- Kansas State University Wildcats official athletic site. - (kstatesports.com). - December 8, 2008 The K-state defense improved from 118 to 38 under Koenning. On December 18, 2009,

Ron Zook Ronald Andrew Zook (; born April 28, 1954) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the Defensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from ...

announced he hired Koenning as the defensive coordinator for the University of Illinois. He improved the Illini defense from 91st in the country in 2009, to 38th in 2010, and 7th in 2011. Illinois gave up just 291.8 yards per game and ranked fourth in the nation in pass defense, fifth in tackles for loss and ninth in sacks. After Zook was fired from Illinois at the end of the regular season, Illinois made Koenning the interim head coach for bowl game against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it w ...

. After Koenning led the Illini to a win in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, he was the hired by the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. In his first season at North Carolina, his defense finished third in the nation in tackles for loss with more than eight per game. The defense that year only allowed a little over 25 points per game. In 2013, North Carolina improved dramatically over the second half of the season, securing wins in six of its last seven contests. In five of those games, North Carolina held its opponents to less than 20 points, including the 39–17 win over

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in the

Belk Bowl The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. The game currently features a matchup between a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) ...

. For the entire 2013 season, North Carolina allowed 24.3 points per game, which gave them the 48th-ranked scoring defense. Koenning returned to Troy on December 17, 2014, when he was hired by new head coach

Neal Brown Neal Brown (born March 11, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at West Virginia University. Brown was previously the head coach at Troy University from 2015 to 2018. Brown also previously ...

as defensive coordinator for the Trojans. Koenning then followed Brown to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 2019. He resigned that position due to backlash from allegations of player mistreatment. In January of 2022,

Terry Bowden Terry Wilson Bowden (; born February 24, 1956) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bowden was previously head coach at Salem University (1983–1985), Samford University (1987 ...

selected Koenning to serve as defensive coordinator at Louisiana–Monroe.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Louisiana–Monroe profile

West Virginia profile

Troy profile

North Carolina profile

Kansas State profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenning, Vic 1960 births Living people American football linebackers Arizona Outlaws players Clemson Tigers football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Oklahoma Outlaws players Troy Trojans football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches High school football coaches in Alabama People from Owasso, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma