Les Koenning Jr. (born February 10, 1959) 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.
During his career, he has served as offensive coordinator for Duke, Houston, Alabama, Texas A&M, South Alabama, Mississippi State, Texas, UAB, and Kansas. He retired in 2020.
Coaching career
At Texas A&M, Koenning had called plays from the press box, with head coach
Dennis Franchione. In November 2007, the Aggies upset 13th-ranked Texas 38–30. Koenning, known for his recruiting skills recruited top players such as
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...
and
Martellus Bennett.
After leaving A&M, Koenning was hired by
Joey Jones at the
University of South Alabama
The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...
, which was getting ready to play its debut season in 2009.
In December 2008,
Dan Mullen, the new head coach at
Mississippi State, hired Koenning to coach the offense, though his specific role had not yet been revealed at the time. Mullen announced that Koenning would serve as offensive coordinator in February 2009.
Koenning previously coached receivers at Mississippi State under then-head coach
Rockey Felker
Rockey Felker (born February 1, 1953) is a former quarterback, head football coach, and retired as director of player personnel for Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi after the 2017 season. After serving three different stin ...
, during the late 1980s. Though he was replaced after the 1990 season at MSU by Jackie Sherrill, Felker serves today as MSU's director/coordinator of recruiting. Koenning recruited and coached MSU star Quarterback
Dak Prescott.
Personal life
Koenning was recruited to play Quarterback by
Darryl Royal at the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
but ended up playing Wide Receiver and led the team as Captain. He went on to get his Masters and was a graduate assistant.
He is married to Lisa Koenning, and has two children Lana Koenning and Les Koenning.
His father Les Koenning Sr was a successful Texas high school football Head coach bringing teams to state championships at Hamshire-Fannett, Memorial and Cypress Creek.
His cousin
Vic Koenning
Victor Emanuel Koenning Jr. (born February 26, 1960) is a former professional American football player, and current defensive coordinator at Louisiana–Monroe. He was the interim head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 20 ...
has served as a defensive coordinator for several teams, among them
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, where he also served as interim head coach.
References
External links
UAB profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenning, Les Jr.
1959 births
Living people
American football wide receivers
Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches
Duke Blue Devils football coaches
Houston Cougars football coaches
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches
Miami Dolphins coaches
Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches
Rice Owls football coaches
South Alabama Jaguars football coaches
Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches
TCU Horned Frogs football coaches
Texas A&M Aggies football coaches
Texas Longhorns football coaches
Texas Longhorns football players
UAB Blazers football coaches
Sportspeople from San Antonio
Players of American football from San Antonio