Ron Antoine, entering his second season on the South Alabama football coaching staff working with wide receivers, wasted little time in making an impact on the program after starting the day before the Jaguars began spring practice in February 2009 following two seasons at Arkansas.
In his first year with the Jags, Antoine’s unit had a major impact on the offense averaging 35 more yards per outing through the air. Courtney Smith surpassed his own school records with 38 receptions for 592 yards, tying another with five touchdown catches, in leading the team in all three categories. Three freshmen also reached double figures in catches, with Bryant Lavender (16), Jeremé Jones (15) and Corey Waldon (14) all finishing in the top four on the squad behind Smith — it was a double-digit increase for Lavender, who caught one pass in 2009, while Waldon saw his total climb by nine from his performance in the program’s initial season. In all, eight receivers contributed to totals of 102 receptions, 1,531 yards and 11 scores.
In the second of Antoine’s two seasons with the Razorbacks, they finished 8-5 after defeating East Carolina 20-17 in overtime in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. UA — which finished tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference West Division — ended the year by winning five of its last six outings. Included in the final record was a victory over No. 17 Auburn, while four of the program’s five losses came to schools ranked in the top 20 at the time. In 2009, the Razorback offense set school season records for points, passing yards, touchdowns passing and total offense.
The Razorbacks’ 2008 campaign — his first with the program — included wins over nationally ranked opponents Auburn and Tulsa.
Antoine’s duties at Arkansas included assisting with running backs, fullbacks and tight ends, scouting the opposition, helping put together practice scripts and game plans, and evaluating and developing self scout reports. He also evaluated the performance of UA offensive players and assisted in recruiting.
The previous two years, Antoine coached running backs and assisted with special teams at Wofford. The Terriers won the 2007 Southern Conference championship, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) playoffs en route to a 9-4 finish. That fall, WC running backs ranked second in the nation with 2,899 yards and 32 touchdowns, while he helped Kevious Johnson earn first-team all-conference honors.
In his first season with the Terrier program, Antoine helped WC go 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the SoCon. WC averaged just under 30 points per game while two of its four losses were by only one touchdown at eventual FCS champion Appalachian State as well as at Football Bowl Subdivision and SEC member South Carolina.
While at Elon in 2005, he worked with wide receivers and slot backs. Under his direction, Michael Mayers collected 632 yards receiving — a total that still ranks among the top 10 on the school’s season record list — on his way to becoming one of only three players in school history to record more than 2,000 receiving yards in a career. Antoine’s other responsibilities with the Phoenix included assisting with special teams and monitoring the team’s academic progress.
Antoine has served two stints on the staff at Ohio. He was a graduate assistant during the 1998 and ‘99 seasons before earning his master’s degree in higher education in 2000, then returned as a full-time assistant from 2001-04.
Some of the program’s accomplishments after Antoine returned to the school included finishing .500 in the Mid-America Conference (2002) as well as defeating Kentucky (2004). In his role working with wide receivers and coordinating the passing attack, several Bobcats recorded performances that made the school’s top-10 lists for catches and yards receiving in a game, and receiving and all-purpose yards in a career. Scott Mayle ended up second in OU history in receiving yards and fifth in all-purpose yards, while Chris Jackson’s 12 receptions against Miami (Ohio) in 2004 were the second-highest total recorded in the program’s record books.
In fact, Jackson’s 39 catches that fall were most by an Ohio receiver since the 1991 campaign.
His other responsibilities with the school included scouting opponents, working with the kickoff return unit, monitoring the program’s academic progress and serving as a liaison with the faculty on campus. While a full-time assistant at Ohio, Antoine worked with another member of the Jaguar coaching staff, as USA offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Greg Gregory was at the school from 2001-03.
During Antoine’s two years as a graduate assistant with the Bobcats, when his duties included coordinating the scout defense and special teams, and breaking down film, OU posted a 5-3 mark in MAC action each fall.
In between stints at Ohio, he was an assistant coach — his duties also included coordinating recruiting efforts off the field and the program’s passing attack on it — at Fayetteville (N.C.) State during the 2000 campaign. His work with Bronco receivers helped Andregus Holmes earn all-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors.
Antoine was a four-year letterwinner at Colorado State from 1993-96, where he played wide receiver. Twice during his career the Rams won the Western Athletic Conference championship to earn a berth in the Holiday Bowl, highlighted by the program’s 10-2 record his sophomore season — that fall, CSU defeated both nationally ranked Brigham Young and Arizona. As a junior, the Rams finished 8-4 with a victory over No. 21 Air Force, and they posted a 7-5 mark (three of those losses came against top-25 teams) his final year.
CSU would go on to reclaim the WAC title in 1997 when Antoine served as a student assistant coach, ending the season ranked 17th in the nation after picking up a 35-24 win over 19th-ranked Missouri in the Holiday Bowl. He would earn his degree in exercise and sport science from the school in ’97.
Antoine’s wife, Zenarae, is in her first season as head coach of the women’s basketball program at Texas State. The couple’s twin sons, Zachary and Zavier, turned two the last week of January.
The Antoine File
Born: Oct. 16, 1973, in Beaumont, Texas
Education:
Colorado State ’97, bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science
Ohio ’00, master’s degree in higher education
Collegiate Playing Experience:
Four years, wide receiver, Colorado State
Coaching Experience:
Colorado State — student assistant, 1997
Ohio — graduate assistant, 1998-99
Fayetteville (N.C.) State — assistant coach, 2000
Ohio — assistant coach, 2001-04
Elon — assistant coach, 2005
Wofford — assistant coach, 2006-07
Arkansas — assistant, 2008-09
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2010-
Family: Wife, Zenarae; Two sons, Zachary (2) and Zavier (2)
