WACO, Texas — Former Baylor assistant and veteran offensive mind Larry Fedora has been tabbed as the Bears’ new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, head coach Dave Aranda announced Saturday.
“I’m excited about Coach Fedora joining our staff as offensive coordinator,” Aranda said. “Larry has a track record of explosive, prolific offenses. He will do a great job of spreading the ball around and making the defense have to defend every blade of grass. He will maximize our playmakers and put them in space to create mismatches. He is a great motivator and a former head coach that I will rely on for advice. I’m excited about working with him and maximizing our offense’s potential.”
Under his leadership, Fedora’s teams as both a head coach and play caller have averaged 400 ypg and scored more than 30 ppg 11 times since 2006. The College Station native previously served as an assistant coach at Baylor from 1991-96.
“I am thrilled to back in Waco and working with Coach Aranda,” Fedora said. “Baylor is a special place and I have many fond memories of my time here working under Coach Teaff and Coach Reedy. I look forward to meeting the players, getting to work and building one of the top offenses in the Big 12.”
With 11 years head coaching experience and 29 total years in college coaching, Fedora has won 79 games as a head coach including 45 wins at North Carolina from 2012-18. He spent the 2019 season as an analyst at Texas. His teams have reached 18 bowl games.
Fedora’s first season with the Tar Heels in 2012 included Carolina finishing eighth in the country in scoring, averaging a school-record 40.6 points per game. UNC scored 30 or more points in nine of 12 games, and twice posted more than 60 points, including a school-record 66 against Idaho. Carolina was 14th in the nation in total offense, averaging a school-record 485.6 yards per game.
Carolina’s offense set several more school records in 2013, including most points in a game (80), most plays in a season (943) and most passing yards in a season (3,606). It was the sixth consecutive year as a head coach that Fedora’s offense has gained more than 5,000 total yards.
In 2014, Carolina again had one of the top offensive units in the ACC, ranking third in scoring and fifth in total offense.
Carolina had its best season in nearly two decades in 2015 as Fedora guided the Tar Heels to an 11-1 regular season and the school’s first appearance the ACC Championship Game. Carolina won a school-record 11 consecutive games during the season, went 8-0 at home and swept its in-state opponents. It was another record-setting season as UNC posted more than 60 team and individual marks. Carolina led the nation in yards per play and was among the top three in the league in scoring offense (1st), rushing offense (2nd), passing offense (3rd) and total offense (2nd). The 2015 team set school marks for most points (570), points per game (40.7) and touchdowns (73).
Fedora was named the 2015 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year Award.
In 2016, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, in his only year as the starter, set multiple school records and led the team to a fourth consecutive bowl game. Trubisky was drafted No. 2 overall by Chicago in 2017, in total Fedora had 20 draft picks at UNC including four first rounders.
Fedora moved to North Carolina after four seasons as head coach at Southern Miss where he compiled a 34-19 overall record, including a 12-2 mark in 2012, and advanced to four consecutive bowl games. With a bowl win over Nevada, the Golden Eagles reached double digits in wins for just the third time in school history and the first time since 1952.
Fedora’s 2011 team was among the best in the country on offense. Southern Miss was 17th in the nation in total offense, averaging 461.4 yards per game, and 14th in scoring offense with 36.9 points per contest.
Southern Miss developed into an explosive offensive program during Fedora’s tenure, gaining more than 5,000 total yards of offense in each of his four seasons, including a school-record 6,459 yards in 2011. In three of his four years in Hattiesburg, the Golden Eagles established a school record for total offense.
En route to an 8-win season in 2010, USM established 35 school records and finished 18th in the country in total offense – the highest finish for the Golden Eagles since becoming a member of the FBS. Fedora’s Southern Miss offenses were 31st in the nation in 2009 and 20th in 2008.
The Southern Miss job was Fedora’s first head coaching assignment after excelling in the collegiate ranks as an assistant. He spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2005-07 where the Cowboys raised their rushing, passing and total offensive yards each year with Fedora at the helm. In 2006, the Cowboys were one of just two teams - the other being Boise State - to average over 200 yards both rushing and passing.
The OSU offense averaged over 30 points per contest over his final two seasons as well. The Cowboys made the biggest improvement in the country in scoring following his second season of running the offense, jumping from 96th nationally in 2005 to seventh in 2006.
Prior to his stint at Oklahoma State, Fedora spent three seasons at Florida as run game coordinator (2002), perimeter game coordinator (2003) and offensive coordinator (2004). He also coached the running backs and receivers all three seasons.
In 2004, Fedora’s Gators ranked first in the SEC in six different categories including passing offense (271.1), total offense (426.9), third down conversion percentage (47.8), touchdown passes (29), pass attempts (407) and pass completions (243).
Before going to Florida, Fedora was the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee from 1999-2001. In three seasons at MTSU, Fedora’s offense averaged 424 yards of total offense, 181 rushing yards and 31 points per game. With Fedora as their offensive coordinator, the Blue Raiders set 43 school records over three seasons.
Fedora began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Austin College in 1986. He then served as an assistant coach at Garland (Texas) High School from 1987-90. Fedora returned to the collegiate ranks in 1991, serving as the tight ends, wide receivers and running backs coach at Baylor, where he stayed until 1996. He then spent two seasons (1997-98) at Air Force coaching the passing game and wide receivers.
As a player, Fedora was a wide receiver at Austin College from 1981-84. He played on the 1981 Kangaroo squad that won the NAIA championship. He earned academic All-America honors in 1983, and was honorable mention All-America in both 1983 and 1984.
Born Sept. 10, 1962, in College Station, Texas, Fedora is a 1985 graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he also received his master’s degree in 1986. He is married to the former Christi Wood, and the couple has one son, Dillon, and three daughters, Sydney, Peyton and Hallie.
