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Kent Austin
COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2019-PRESENT – LIBERTY (CO-OC/QB) 2013-18 – HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (HC, GM, AND VP OF FOOTBALL OPS) 2010-12 – CORNELL (HC) 2008-10 – OLE MISS (OC) 2007 – SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (HC) 2004-06 – TORONTO ARGONAUTS (OC) 2003 – OTTAWA RENEGADES (QB)
EDUCATION: BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (OLE MISS, ’85) CHILDREN: KENDALL, KASSIDY, AND WESLEY HOMETOWN: NATICK, MASS.
Kent Austin brought over 30 years of playing and coaching success to Liberty Mountain where he serves as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Prior to joining the Flames’ coaching staff for the 2019 season, Austin spent the previous six seasons in the Canadian Football League, working as the head coach (2013-17), general manager (2013-15), and vice president of football operations (2013-18) for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He led the team to backto-back Grey Cup finals in 2013 and 2014. Austin has also served as a head coach at Cornell (2010-12) and for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders (2007), while working as an offensive coordinator at Ole Miss (2008-10) and for the Toronto Argonauts (2004-06). Saskatchewan finished the 2007 season with a 12-6 record, and Austin led the Roughriders to winning the Grey Cup. Following a successful 11-year professional playing career, including 10 seasons in the CFL where he threw for 26,626 career passing yards and 134 career touchdowns, Austin started his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach for the Ottawa Renegades in 2003.
• Austin’s quarterbacks have played a vital role in Liberty winning back-to-back FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl titles in 2019 and 2020. • With the pair of Cure Bowl victories, Liberty became the second FBS transitioning team in NCAA history to win consecutive bowl games during its first two full seasons at the FBS level. • Liberty finished the 2020 season with a 10-1 record and ranked No. 17 in the final Associated Press poll, its highest end-of-the-year national ranking in program history. • Liberty was one of three FBS teams in the country to rank in the top 20 in both total offense (No. 15) and total defense (No. 11) in 2020, joining BYU and Clemson. • Austin helped turn Malik Willis, the former reserve quarterback at Auburn, into one of the nation’s rising stars during the 2020 season. • Willis finished the season as the No. 1 ranked rushing quarterback in the country, rushing for 944 yards and 14 touchdowns. • Willis finished his first season under center for the Flames completing 170-of-265 passing attempts for 2,260 yards and 20 touchdowns. • Willis was up for several national honors throughout the season, including the Davey O’Brien Award Quarterback Class of 2020 listing. • Liberty finished the 2020 season ranked No. 15 nationally in total offense (482.7 yards per game) and No. 16 in scoring offense (38.2 points per game). • Quarterback Stephen Calvert finished his career in 2019 as the program’s all-time leading passer with 12,025 career passing yards and 93 career touchdowns. • At the completion of the 2019 season, Calvert ranked No. 2 in the country in career passing yards among active FBS quarterbacks. • After throwing 18 interceptions in 2018, Austin transformed Calvert’s accuracy as the four-year starter threw only seven interceptions in 2019. • During the course of the 2019 season, Calvert posted the longest streak in the country among FBS quarterbacks by completing 295 passing attempts without an interception. • Calvert was one of 11 Liberty players named to the 2019 Phil Steele FBS Independent All-Conference team. • Liberty finished the 2019 season ranked No. 21 nationally in passing yards per game (288.9) and No. 32 in total offensive yards per game (439.4).
