| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-11-16)November 16, 1954 (age 71) |
| Playing career | |
| 1974 | Missouri Southern |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1983 | Arkansas (assistant) |
| 1984–1986 | Minnesota (assistant) |
| 1987–1988 | Notre Dame (RB) |
| 1989 | Notre Dame (OC) |
| 1990–1993 | UNLV |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 17–27 |
James A. Strong (born November 16, 1954) is an American formercollege football coach. He was thehead coach atUNLV for four seasons, and served as an assistant coach andoffensive coordinator atNotre Dame.
Strong joined head coachLou Holtz' staff atArkansas in 1983, and followed him toMinnesota and eventually Notre Dame.[1] At Notre Dame, Strong had a successful tenure as offensive coordinator and offensive backfield coach, including the1988 national championship season. In December 1989, Strong was named the head coach of the football program at theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas. In making the hire, the UNLVAthletic Director asserted Strong's background inrecruiting, his energy, and the success of Notre Dame. His initial contract was for five-years at a salary of $95,000 a year.[2]
Strong arrived at a UNLV program that had fallen under the shadow of the highly successful men'sbasketball program underJerry Tarkanian; in his first meeting with the university Faculty Senate, he noted "They don't know us because we are a premier academic institution. We will be someday. But they know us because we've got a basketball team that won the national championship."[3]
After leaving UNLV, Strong changed careers and became areal estate broker inBranson, Missouri.[4][5]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNLV Rebels(Big West Conference)(1990–1993) | |||||||||
| 1990 | UNLV | 4–7 | 3–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1991 | UNLV | 4–7 | 2–5 | T–5th | |||||
| 1992 | UNLV | 6–5 | 3–3 | T–4th | |||||
| 1993 | UNLV | 3–8 | 2–4 | T–7th | |||||
| UNLV: | 17–27 | 10–16 | |||||||
| Total: | 17–27 | ||||||||