Neil Callaway
Neil Callaway (born November 15, 1955) was the offensive line coach at the University of Southern California (USC) and the former head coach of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers college football team. Callaway, a 1974 graduate of Central High School in Macon, Georgia, played collegiately at the University of Alabama for legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant as a lineman and linebacker before graduating in 1978. Callaway is married and has three children.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Offensive Analyst |
| Team | Purdue |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | November 15, 1955 Macon, Georgia |
| Playing career | |
| 1974–1977 | University of Alabama |
| Position(s) | guard, tackle, defensive end, nose guard, and linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1980 | Wyoming (Asst.) |
| 1981–1992 | Auburn (OL) |
| 1993–1996 | Houston (AHC/OC) |
| 1997 | Alabama (OL) |
| 1998–2000 | Alabama (OC/OL) |
| 2001–2006 | Georgia (OC/OL) |
| 2007–2011 | UAB |
| 2013–2015 | Western Kentucky (OL) |
| 2016-2018 | USC (OL) |
| 2020–present | Purdue (OA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 18–42 |
Coaching career
Callaway began his coaching career as a part of Pat Dye's staff at East Carolina University and the University of Wyoming before following Dye to Auburn University as offensive line coach. In twelve years with Auburn, the team won a share of four Southeastern Conference titles and Callaway coached four All-Americans.
In 1993, Callaway became offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at the University of Houston, where the team won a Conference USA title, before returning to his alma mater as offensive line coach for the Tide in 1997 and offensive coordinator from 1998-2000. In 2001, he joined Mark Richt's staff at the University of Georgia as line coach and coordinator, where the team won three SEC division titles and two conference championships in six years there.
Callaway left Georgia in January 2007 to take the UAB head coaching position. He had not been widely linked to any other head coaching jobs, and was considered a sleeper choice by UAB. UAB was rumored to have initially offered the job to Pat Sullivan (then UAB offensive coordinator) and later to Jimbo Fisher, leading many to speculate that the UA Board of Trustees vetoed the contract offers preventing UAB from hiring more sought after coaches and instead appointing Callaway as the new head coach as a ploy to keep the program in a lower status than Alabama's own.[1]
Callaway left UAB's head coaching job on November 27, 2011, having compiled a record of 18 wins and 42 losses during his five years with the Blazers (18–42).The board blocked a proposal to fund an on-campus football field at UAB which meant players had to travel for practice, and the facilities were far from being up to par. [2]
On February 26, 2013, Callaway was hired by WKU head coach Bobby Petrino to serve as the Hilltoppers' offensive line coach.[3]
On January 4, 2016, Callaway was hired by USC.[4] On October 29, 2018 Coach Clay Helton relieved Neil Callaway of his duties.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAB Blazers (Conference USA) (2007–2011) | |||||||||
| 2007 | UAB | 2–10 | 1–7 | 6th (East) | |||||
| 2008 | UAB | 4–8 | 3–5 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2009 | UAB | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2010 | UAB | 4–8 | 3–5 | 5th (East) | |||||
| 2011 | UAB | 3–9 | 3–5 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| UAB: | 18–42 | 14–26 | |||||||
| Total: | 18–42 | ||||||||
References
- Doyel, Gregg (December 26, 2006). "'Little Bear' Bryant crosses line again in denying UAB". CBS Sportsline.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
- Schlabach, Mark (November 27, 2011). "UAB fires coach Neil Callaway". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
- Champlin, Drew (February 26, 2013). "Former UAB head coach, SEC assistant Neil Callaway hired at Western Kentucky". AL.com. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
- USC Trojans [@USC_Athletics] (January 4, 2016). "USC HC Clay Helton announces Tyson Helton as RB coach/pass game coordinator and Neil Callaway as OL coach. #FightOn" (Tweet) – via Twitter.