Ronald Allen Caragher (born January 24, 1967) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He was previously the head coach at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

and San Jose State. Originally from Morgan Hill, California, Caragher played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and later became an assistant coach for UCLA football, first as a graduate assistant from 1994 to 1995, then as wide receivers coach from 1996 to 2002. From 2003 to 2006, Caragher served as running backs coach for

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and was part of the 2006 Music City Bowl championship coaching staff. Caragher first became a head coach at the

in 2007 and remained in that position until 2012. During his tenure there, San Diego won three Pioneer Football League championships. From 2013 to 2016, Caragher was head coach at San Jose State. Although he inherited a team that ranked in the top 25, he was unable to match the success of that season. After leaving San Jose State, Caragher was an assistant coach at San Diego State in 2018 and 2019. Beginning in 2020, Caragher returned to the University of San Diego as an assistant athletics director. Caragher was announced as the new head football coach of St. Augustine High School on January 5, 2024.

Early life

Born in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

, Caragher grew up with his mother in Morgan Hill after his parents divorced. Caragher played on the local Pop Warner football team and switched from running back to quarterback at age 12. Reflecting on his upbringing, Caragher said: "In a single-parent home, I was very influenced by coaches. I was very blessed to have male coaches in my life that were good guides for me, because I could've gone different directions." Attending Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, Caragher lettered in three sports including football and graduated in 1985.

Athletic career

Caragher received an athletic scholarship to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) in 1985. At UCLA, Caragher

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year, then was backup

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

from 1986 to 1989, including two seasons behind Troy Aikman. Caragher was part of the UCLA teams that won the 1986 Freedom Bowl, 1987 Aloha Bowl, and 1989 Cotton Bowl Classic. In UCLA's 52–17 win on November 7, 1987, over Oregon State, Caragher was one of three backup quarterbacks who substituted for Aikman during garbage time. As a junior in 1988, Caragher completed 4 of 7 passes for 19 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. With UCLA leading

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

(24–0) late in the fourth quarter on October 22, Caragher came in to replace Aikman but threw an interception that led to an Arizona field goal; UCLA would ultimately win 24–3. In the 1989 Cotton Bowl, senior Caragher took over on one handoff play after Aikman lost a contact lens. In 1990, Caragher graduated from UCLA with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. Caragher became a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

administrator after finishing his bachelor's degree.

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1994–2006)

While studying for his master's degree in 1994, Caragher became a graduate assistant with UCLA football. In 1995, Caragher earned his master's degree in educational administration from UCLA. In 1996, Caragher became coach for wide receivers, punters, and kickers, a position he would hold until 2002. Caragher coached UCLA through five bowl games. UCLA had a record 20-game winning streak from 1997 to 1998. With Pac-10 titles in 1997 and 1998, UCLA also won the 1998 Cotton Bowl Classic (following the 1997 season) and 2002 Las Vegas Bowl. From 2003 to 2006, Caragher was running backs coach at

and was recruiting coordinator from 2005 to 2006. Kentucky's 8-5 2006 season was the school's best record since 1984, and Kentucky's 2006 Music City Bowl victory marked its first bowl game since 1999 and first bowl win since 1984.

San Diego (2007–2012)

Succeeding Jim Harbaugh, Caragher became head coach at

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

school

in 2007. Under Caragher, San Diego won three Pioneer Football League (PFL) titles: in 2007,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The Pioneer Football League named Caragher Coach of the Year following a 9–2 season in 2011, the team's third season with such a record under Caragher. At San Diego, Caragher coached quarterback Josh Johnson, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft.

San Jose State (2013–2016)

Signing a five-year contract, Caragher accepted the head coach position at San Jose State on December 17, 2012, a week after previous head coach Mike MacIntyre resigned to become head coach at

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Caragher coached his first game in the 2013 season after Kent Baer served as interim head coach for the 2012 Military Bowl on December 27, 2012. During the 2013 spring practice period, Caragher changed the defensive line alignment from a 4–3 to a 3–4 defense and put quarterback David Fales under center rather than the pistol offense. Following an 11–2 season in 2012, San Jose State went 6–6 (5–3 in Mountain West play) in Caragher's first season as head coach and the program's first year in the MW and ended the season with a 62–52 upset win over AP #16 Fresno State. San Jose State fell to 3–9 in 2014. The season included a quarterback controversy that extended into the season, when Caragher changed the starting quarterback from Blake Jurich to Joe Gray after the third game. In 2015, San Jose State improved to 6–7, including a win in the Cure Bowl. Despite a 5–7 regular season record, San Jose State was bowl-eligible due to a lack of 6–6 or better teams for all available bowl game spots. However, the team dropped to 4–8 in 2016, and Caragher was fired on November 27, the day after San Jose State beat rival Fresno State in the season finale.

San Diego State assistant (2018–2019)

In 2018, Caragher became offensive quality control coach and on-campus recruiting coordinator at San Diego State under Rocky Long. Caragher was promoted to tight ends coach and passing game coordinator in 2019. The 2019 San Diego State team finished 10–3 (5–3 Mountain West) and won the 2019 New Mexico Bowl. Long retired after the season, and new head coach Brady Hoke did not retain Caragher.

St. Augustine High School (2024-Present)

In January 2024, Caragher became the head coach at St. Augustine High School, after the previous coach, Ron Gladnick, was fired in December 2023.

Athletic administration career

In the spring of 2020, Caragher returned to the

as assistant athletics director for development, a role in which he assisted the university in athletic fundraising.

Head coaching record

References

External links

San Diego State profile

UCLA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caragher, Ron 1967 births Living people American football quarterbacks Kentucky Wildcats football coaches San Diego State Aztecs football coaches San Diego Toreros football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches UCLA Bruins football players People from Coronado, California Sportspeople from Redwood City, California People from Morgan Hill, California Players of American football from Santa Clara County, California Coaches of American football from California Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni