University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Head Football Coach
- Email:
- uncbearsfootball@gmail.com
Head Coach Earnest Collins Jr. was named the 16th football coach in school history on December 28, 2010. He returned to his alma mater to serve as head coach. In 1996, Collins received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Northern Colorado after playing for the Bears from 1991-94, where he amassed 978 punt return yards, then the school record and still second all-time. His 497 punt return yards from his senior season are still atop the school’s leaderboard.
Collins and the Bears struggled in his first season at the helm going winless but then turned it around with a 5-6 season in 2012. Following two down seasons in 2013 and ’14, he led the team to its first winning season as a Division I program in 2015 at 6-5. Northern Colorado repeated the feat in 2016 with another 6-5 season. Injuries riddled Collins’ seventh season in charge of UNC leading to a 3-7 record. Against a grueling 2018 schedule that featured eight teams either ranked or receiving votes the Bears went 2-9.
During his time as the head man at Northern Colorado, five Bears have earned time with NFL teams in Jace Davis, Seth Lobato, Lexington Smith, Kyle Sloter and Frank Stephens. Collins has also coached 64 All-Big Sky players during his seven seasons with UNC.
After a stellar career at Northern Colorado, where he lettered every season from 1991 through 1994 and earned all-conference honors in 1994, Collins spent 1996-99 at Northwest Missouri State as the secondary and assistant special teams coach, helping the Bearcats to the 1998 and 1999 NCAA Division II National Championships. In both seasons, Collins and the Bearcats got the best of the Bears in the playoffs, winning the quarterfinals in 1998 in Maryville (42-17) and then winning the 1999 semifinals at Nottingham Field (41-35).
From 2000-03, Collins returned to Greeley where he served as the secondary and special teams coach. In 2002, the Bears reached the NCAA Division II Semifinals and had the top-ranked defense in the North Central Conference (NCC) and No. 8 defense among Division II (249.8 yards per game).
After his second coaching stint with UNC, Collins became the special teams and cornerbacks coach at Kansas from 2003-06. The Jayhawks advanced to two bowl games and he coached a pair of All-Americans in the defensive backfield.Â
He spent 2007 at Central Florida before heading to Alcorn State in 2008 as the associate head coach. In 2009, he was promoted to head coach at Alcorn State.
In two years at the helm of Alcorn State, the Braves went 8-12 with significant signs of improvement. Alcorn State ranked 30th in FCS in scoring offense in 2010, averaging 29.64 points per game.Â
Collins and his wife Tabatha have two daughters, Tayler and Marci, and a son, DeShawn.
Collins Resume
| 2011-present | Northern Colorado (Head Coach) |
| 2009-10 | Alcorn State (Head Coach) |
| 2008 | Alcorn State (Assoc. Head Coach/Def. Coordinator) |
| 2007 | Central Florida (Secondary Coach) |
| 2003-06 | Kansas (Secondary Coach) |
| 2000-02 | Northern Colorado (Secondary/Special Teams Coordinator) |
| 1996-99 | NW Missouri State (Secondary/Asst Special Teams Coach) |
| 1995 | Northern Colorado (Student Assistant Coach) |
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