Gary Blackney
The 1b guy is allegedly Gary Blackney. Here's his bio
http://umterps.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/blackney_gary00.html
ary Blackney is in his fourth season as the Terrapins’ defensive coordinator and secondary coach.
In three seasons, Blackney has taken the Maryland defense and transformed it from a liability to one of the best units in the nation. In each of his three years, the Terps have finished the season in the nation’s top 20 in scoring defense. In fact, only one school (Georgia) has finished higher than Maryland in the NCAA rankings each of those three years.
Last season, the Terp defense was the rock while the offense took a few games early to get on track. In the end, the team finished ranked in the nation’s top 25 in pass efficiency defense (17th, 105.86), total defense (15th, 308.4 ypg), scoring defense (sixth, 15.9 ppg) and pass defense (12th, 179.0 ypg). The unit placed five players on the conference’s first or second team and had all four defensive backs earn some sort of all-conference recognition.
In 2002, the Terrapin defense ranked first in the ACC and seventh nationally in scoring, allowing a paltry 16.3 points per game. In addition, the Maryland rushing and passing defense each ranked in the top three in the league while the team was second in the conference in sacks (37) and red-zone defense.
Under Blackney’s guidance in 2001, the Terrapin defense led the ACC in scoring defense (19.1 ppg), rushing defense (90.6 ypg) and sacks (37). In addition, the Terps were second nationally in interceptions (24) and tied for seventh in turnovers forced with 34. The 24 interceptions were the most by a Maryland team in 51 years.
Prior to coming to Maryland, Blackney most recently served as the head coach at Bowling Green State University. He resigned his post following the final game of the 2000 season after 10 successful years with the program and an overall record of 60-50-2 (47-32-2, Mid-American Conference). The BGSU job was his first as a head coach and his 60 wins as a Falcon ranked third on the school’s all-time list when he took the Maryland job.
Blackney left Bowling Green as the only coach in school history to win a bowl game, as he led the Falcons to victories in the 1991 California Raisin Bowl (28-21 over Fresno State) and the 1992 Las Vegas Bowl (35-34 over Nevada). With 11 wins in 1991 and 10 in 1992, he is the only coach in BGSU history to have back-to-back seasons of 10 wins or more. In doing so, he also became one of just three coaches ever to have been named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons. Other honors at Bowling Green included being named a finalist for Football News’ National Coach of the Year award in 1991 as well as two selections as AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year (in ‘91 and ‘92).
The 1991 season was Blackney’s first as a head coach, and with 11 wins that year, he tied an NCAA record for most wins by a first-year head coach. In fact, his career at Bowling Green began with a MAC-record 19 straight conference wins and a 22-game unbeaten streak in the first two years. But the accolades did not end on the playing field for Blackney. To date, he is the only coach from the MAC to have his recruiting classes receive the American Football Coaches Association Academic Achievement Award (70 percent or better graduation rate) each year of the award’s existence. His first recruiting class (1991-92) finished with one of the top marks in the nation at 93 percent.
Prior to taking over at Bowling Green, Blackney was an assistant coach for 21 years. After serving as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Connecticut, in 1968 and ‘69, he got his first full-time position in 1970 as a defensive backs coach at Brown. He then spent two seasons (1973-74) as offensive backs coach at Rhode Island.
From there his stint serving big-time programs began, often alongside some big-time coaching names. From 1975-77, he was a defensive backs coach and ultimately defensive coordinator (1977) at Wisconsin. After three years with the Badgers, he moved to the West Coast and UCLA where he worked as a defensive backs coach under Terry Donahue. In 1980, Blackney came back east to Syracuse where he held the same post from 1980-83 under Dick MacPherson. His final coaching spot before Bowling Green was at Ohio State where he began his tenure in 1984 as a defensive backs coach under Earle Bruce and ended as an inside linebackers coach from 1988-90 under John Cooper. In between (1985-87), he was the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator.
Of all of his positions, however, none had the eventual name power that could match that of his playing days at Connecticut. In Storrs, he was on a team that featured names such as Rick Forzano, current South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, former Cleveland Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano, as well as eventual NFL assistants Dave Adolph and Dan Sekanovich.
A 1967 graduate and former running back/defensive back at UConn, Blackney is a native of Plainview, N.Y., and was born in Astoria, N.Y. He and his wife, Lauretta, have four children (Debbie, David, Kyle and Gary, Jr.) and four grandchildren (Kerie, Jamie, Abby and Celia).
Blackney File
Personal
Date of Birth: December 10, 1944
Hometown: Plainview, N.Y.
Alma Mater: Connecticut, ‘67
Coaching Experience
Maryland
2001- Assistant Coach - Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
Bowling Green
1991-2000 Head Coach
Ohio State
1988-90 Assistant Coach - Inside Linebackers
1985-87 Assistant Coach - Defensive Coordinator
1984 Assistant Coach - Defensive Backs
Syracuse
1980-83 Assistant Coach - Defensive Backs
UCLA
1978-79 Assistant Coach - Defensive Backs
Wisconsin
1977 Assistant Coach - Defensive Coordinator
1975-76 Assistant Coach - Defensive Backs
Rhode Island
1973-74 Assistant Coach - Offensive Backs
Brown
1970-72 Assistant Coach - Defensive Backs
Connecticut
1968-69 Graduate Assistant
Playing Experience
Connecticut
1965-66 Running Back/Defensive Back
Recruiting Areas Maryland (Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties), Delaware and Eastern Ohio
