KySportsStyle.com Magazine

Jerry Claiborne was the head football coach at UK for eight years, leading the Wildcats to two bowls and four non-losing seasons during the 1980s.  A man well-known for his integrity and good moral values, Claiborne also led Kentucky to a national academic title in winning the 1989 CFA Academic Achievement Award for having the highest graduation rate among his student athletes.

 

Before coming to Kentucky in 1982, Claiborne had a very successful head coaching stint at Maryland where he guided Terrapins to seven bowl appearances in 10 years. He was a former Bear Bryant disciple as a player at UK and as an assistant at Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama.

 

Retiring after the 1989 campaign, Claiborne finished his remarkable head coaching career with 179 victories, good for fourth place among active major college coaches at the time (behind legends Bo Schembechler, Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden). Claiborne was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

 

Former UK standout Vic Adams, who played for Claiborne, has written a nice tribute to his college coach, who passed away 14 years ago at the age of 72.  Click here for Adams' column in KySportsStyle, which was first posted in October 2014.

 

Click here for Claiborne's Hall of Fame biography.