Claude Neil Callaway (born November 15, 1955) is an American

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 and former player who was most recently the offensive line coach for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

of the United Football League (UFL). Callaway served as the head football coach at

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

(UAB) from 2007 to 2011, compiling a record of 18–42. A 1974 graduate of Central High School in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, he played collegiately at 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 ...

for coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

as a lineman and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

before graduating in 1978.

Playing career

Callaway played for

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

as an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

, and

from 1974 to 1977. The Tide won three

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

titles while he was a player and finished No. 2 in the final AP Poll in 1977. He was named the team's "Most Outstanding Athlete" following his senior season.

Coaching career

Callaway began his coaching career as a part of

Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...

's staff at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

and the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

before following Dye to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

offensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

. In twelve years with Auburn, the team won a share of four

titles and Callaway coached four

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

s. In 1993, Callaway became

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and

assistant head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, where the team won a

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

title, before returning to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

as offensive line coach for the

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

in 1997 and offensive coordinator from 1998-2000. In 2001, he joined

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is an American former college football coach, player, and current television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mate ...

's staff at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

as line coach and coordinator, where the team won three SEC division titles and two conference championships in six years there. Callaway left Georgia in January 2007 to take the UAB head coaching position. He had not been widely linked to any other head coaching jobs, and was considered a sleeper choice by UAB. UAB was rumored to have initially offered the job to Pat Sullivan (then UAB offensive coordinator) and later to

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach. He most recently served as the head football coach at Texas A&M Aggies, Texas A&M from 2018 until 2023. Prior to that, he led Florida State Seminoles, Fl ...

, leading many to speculate that the UA Board of Trustees vetoed the contract offers preventing UAB from hiring more sought after coaches and instead appointing Callaway as the new head coach as a ploy to keep the program in a lower status than Alabama's own. Callaway left UAB's head coaching job on November 27, 2011, having compiled a record of 18 wins and 42 losses during his five years with the Blazers (18–42).The board blocked a proposal to fund an on-campus football field at UAB which meant players had to travel for practice, and the facilities were far from being up to par. On February 26, 2013, Callaway was hired by

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

head coach

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas. He served as the head football coach at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022. P ...

to serve as the Hilltoppers' offensive line coach. On January 4, 2016, Callaway was hired by USC. On October 29, 2018, head coach

Clay Helton Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern Eagles football, Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC Trojans football, US ...

relieved Callaway of his duties. In 2020, he was hired by

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American college football coach and former professional quarterback. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Louisville, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Bro ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

as a senior analyst. In 2021, he was promoted to assistant offensive line coach. On January 12, 2021, he retired from coaching. The retirement didn't last long though, as Callaway was announced as the offensive line coach for the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

in March 2022.

Personal life

Callaway is married and has three children. His son,

Russ Callaway Russ Callaway is an American football coach who is currently the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for the Florida Gators. Coaching career Callaway got his first career coaching job as a defensive analyst for the Alabama Crimson Tide ...

is the current co-

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Purdue profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaway, Neil 1955 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football players Birmingham Stallions (2022) coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Houston Cougars football coaches Michigan Panthers (2022) coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches UAB Blazers football coaches USC Trojans football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Players of American football from Macon, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)