Sam McElroy (born ) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He served as head football coach at

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a Public university, public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is Carnegie C ...

from 2005 to 2009, compiling a record of 40–15. McElroy is a 1985 graduate of Southwest Texas State University (now

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

), where he did not play varsity football but served as student assistant to head coach

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was an American writer. He was one of America's most prolific writers of Short story, short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'H ...

. Soon after graduation he became assistant coach at Corsicana High School. In 1989, he was hired by

Grant Teaff Grant Garland Teaff (; born November 12, 1933) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at McMurry University (1960–1965), Angelo State University (1969–1971), and Baylor University (1972–1992), compilin ...

to serve as

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. He later had short stints at

Navarro College Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students. The Corsicana campus has ...

and at

Alto High School Alto High School (AHS) is a public high school in Alto, Texas. It is part of the Alto Independent School District which is located in south central Cherokee County and classified as a 2A school by the UIL. For the 2021-22 school year, the Texa ...

, where he was named 1992 District 22-AA Coach of the Year after winning the district title and earning a state playoff berth. In 1993, McElroy was hired by

Ron Randleman Ron Randleman (born December 17, 1941) is a former American football coach. He served as head coach at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas from 1982 to 2004. Randleman retired after the 2004 season as the winningest head coach in t ...

to serve as

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

s coach at

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (Sam Houston, SHSU or Sam) is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas, United States. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools wes ...

. During his seven years on the staff at Sam Houston State, McElroy coached eight players who earned All-

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

honors. In 2000, he left SHSU to join

Todd Whitten Philip Todd Whitten (born February 16, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Tarleton State University, a position he held in 1996, from 2000 to 2004, and resumed before the 2016 season. Whitte ...

's coaching staff at Tarleton State as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

. While at Tarleton, McElroy guided a defense that improved each year under his direction. His last season with the Texans, his defense allowed opponents just 271 yards of offense and 17.1 points per game to rank second in the

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas ...

. After the 2002 season, McElroy left Tarleton State to join

Darrell Dickey Darrell Ray Dickey (born December 6, 1959) is an American football coach. He was most recently an offensive analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2023 season. Prior to joining the Georgia program, he was the offensive coordinator for th ...

's coaching staff at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. In 2005, McElroy returned to Tarleton State, succeeding Todd Whitten as Texans head coach. On February 3, 2010, McElroy was hired by Texas Tech head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville (; born September 18, 1954) is an American politician and retired college football coach who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Alabama, a seat he has held since 2021. Before ...

to coach the defensive line. On December 9, 2011, he was fired from this position.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McElroy, Sam Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Baylor Bears football coaches Navarro Bulldogs football coaches North Texas Mean Green football coaches Sam Houston Bearkats football coaches Tarleton State Texans football coaches Texas State Bobcats football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Texas State University alumni People from Corsicana, Texas Sports coaches from Texas