Barry Lunney Jr.

Barry Lunney Jr. (born September 11, 1974) is an American football coach. He serves as the offensive coordinator at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Lunney served as the interim head football coach at the University of Arkansas for the final two games of the 2019 season.

Playing career[]

Lunney Jr. started at QB for his father (Barry Lunney Sr.) at Southside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, leading that team to the 1991 state championship as a senior. Lunney Jr. then signed a scholarship to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks as part of the 1992 signing class, and went on to start 40 games at quarterback during his playing career at Arkansas.^[1] His first start was at Tennessee in 1992, and he led the Hogs to an upset victory over the #4 Vols, 25-24, thanks to a field goal on the last play of the game by placekicker Todd Wright. Lunney Jr. was selected as one of the team captains for the 1995 Arkansas Razorbacks football team,^[2] and led that squad to Arkansas' first SEC Western Division title, and the program's first appearance in the SEC Championship game. There were a number of other firsts in the 1995 season for Lunney Jr and the Hogs: Lunney Jr. led Arkansas to their first victories over Alabama, Auburn, Memphis, Mississippi State, and their first win in a game played in the Liberty Bowl facility when Arkansas defeated Ole Miss in a conference game played at the stadium due to construction at Ole Miss' home stadium in Oxford. ^[3] Lunney Jr. would hold the team record for passing yards, passing touchdowns, pass completions, pass attempts and total offensive plays for a few years after his graduation, until he was eventually surpassed by Clint Stoerner in 1999.^[4] Lunney Jr. also played college baseball, playing one season of minor league baseball for the Minnesota Twins organization in 1997,^[5] before returning to football as a coach.

Coaching career[]

Lunney Jr. began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach during the 1998 and 1999 seasons at Arkansas before moving to Tulsa for the 2000, 2001, and 2002 seasons as quarterbacks (2000-2001) and wide receivers (2002) coach. He then moved on to be the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for San Jose State for two seasons, the last of which the Spartans ranked 17th in the NCAA in passing offense.^[6] From 2005 to 2012, Lunney Jr. was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Bentonville High School in Northwest Arkansas, during which time the team won six conference titles and two state championships. From the 2013 to the 2019 season, Lunney Jr. was the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for in-state recruits at Arkansas. On November 11, 2019, Barry Lunney Jr. took over as interim head coach for Arkansas, following the firing of former head coach Chad Morris.^[7] During his tenure as interim head coach, Arkansas lost at eventual national champion #1 LSU, and at home to Missouri.

UTSA[]

Lunney was named associate head coach and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at UTSA on Dec. 13, 2019. ^[8]

Prior to UTSA's matchup against Louisiana in the 2020 First Responder Bowl, UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor tested positive for COVID-19. Lunney served as acting head coach for the game.^[9] UTSA lost in a hard fought game, 24-31, finishing the season 7-5.

The finished 12-1, and won the Conference USA West Division championship, before defeating Western Kentucky in the C-USA Championship Game 49-41, to claim the school's first conference title. UTSA is scheduled to play San Diego State in the 2021 Frisco Bowl on December 21 in Frisco, Texas. UTSA's offense, under Lunney's coordination, averaged 442.9 yards of offense per game, 254.3 passing, 188.6 rushing, and scoring 37.8 points per game.

Head coaching record[]

College[]

References[]