Bryant Jacob "Jake" Coker (born August 4, 1992) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

. He played

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 ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. He won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

as the starting quarterback of the Alabama Crimson Tide in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Early years

Coker attended

St. Paul's Episcopal School St. Paul's Episcopal School is an independent, parochial, co-educational Christian preparatory school in Mobile, Alabama. Description The school has a four-level structure: the Lower School (Pre-K through 2nd grade), the Intermediate School (3r ...

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. He played both

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the 18th best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class. He committed to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in June 2010.

College career

Coker was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. As a backup to

EJ Manuel Erik Rodriguez "EJ" Manuel Jr. (born March 19, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, leading them to an A ...

in 2012, he appeared in three games, completing three-of-five passes for 45 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. As a redshirt sophomore, Coker competed with

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January6, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, becoming the youngest pl ...

for the starting quarterback job in 2013. Winston won the job and Coker was his backup until a knee injury in November caused him to miss the rest of the season. He had appeared in six games, going 18 of 36 for 250 yards and one

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

. In January 2014, Coker transferred to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. He had suffered some injuries and, as he later said, "things didn't work out at Florida State". Alabama had shown interest but he had already committed and stuck to his commitment, but his dream had always been to play for Alabama under coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

. He was eligible to play immediately and did not have to sit out a year after graduating from Florida State in April. In his first year at Alabama he competed for the Crimson Tide's starting job.

Blake Sims Blake Sims (born January 4, 1991) is an American high school football coach and former player. He is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Mt. Bethel Christian Academy, a position he has held since 2023. He played college football ...

won the competition with Coker as the backup. Coker again competed for the starting job in 2015, and this time won the competition. Coker helped lead the Crimson Tide to win the 2016

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

National Championship Game against the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

, with a final score of 45–40. The team's only loss was against

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

, a game Coker later said changed his approach to the game. On January 30, 2016, Coker was the starting quarterback for the South in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. In one quarter, he was 3-of-8 passing for 23 yards and led his team to the first touchdown of the game.

Statistics

Professional career

On April 30, 2016, Coker signed a free agent deal with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

after going undrafted in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He was released by the team on August 29, 2016, as part of a roster cut to 75 players. On April 21, 2017, after being unable to fully recover from knee surgery, Coker announced his retirement from football. “I’m just going to move on,” Coker said. “I had another surgery when I was with the (Arizona) Cardinals, and that was kind of the last thing. I didn’t want another surgery. I’m just kind of ready to move on. I’m excited about what’s ahead.”

After football

Coker and his wife moved back to Mobile and he got a job in commercial insurance; they had a baby in early 2020.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coker, Jake 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Mobile, Alabama American football quarterbacks Florida State Seminoles football players Alabama Crimson Tide football players Arizona Cardinals players