Having joined Coach Ed Orgeron's staff in January of 2006, Art Kehoe is in his first year at The University of Mississippi. Kehoe is serving as associate head coach and offensive line coach. Prior to coming to Ole Miss, Kehoe spent the previous 27 years at the University of Miami (Fla.), including two years as a player. Kehoe, who is considered an outstanding recruiter and has coached some of the best lines in collegiate football, brings energy and great passion for football to the Ole Miss program. Kehoe coached 25 years at Miami, including the last four years as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, and was the longest-tenured coach on Larry Coker's staff. A former offensive lineman and 1982 graduate of Miami, Kehoe began his coaching career in 1981 as a student assistant at Miami. He was an integral part of the Miami football renaissance since its beginning in the late 1970s and is the only person who had been in the Hurricanes football program continuously since then. He came to Miami in 1979 as a transfer from Laney Junior College in Oakland, Calif., and started at guard for the Hurricanes for two seasons under head coach Howard Schnellenberger. Kehoe's tenure at Miami ranked among the longest of any Hurricanes athletics figure, a span during which he either played or coached for five head football coaches. In 20 seasons working with the offensive line at Miami, Kehoe produced six players (Brett Romberg in 2002, Bryant McKinnie in 2001, Joaquin Gonzalez in 2000, Richard Mercier in 1999, K.C. Jones in 1996 and Leon Searcy in 1991) who received first-team All-America honors, plus 18 more that went on to play professionally, 14 All-Big East honorees, one Outland Trophy winner and the 2002 Rimington Award winner. Kehoe was on the staff of all five Miami football national championship teams. Two Heisman Trophy winners and six of Miami's eight 1,000-yard rushers passed or rushed behind the blocking of Kehoe's offensive linemen. His 2000 and 2001 units are widely considered among the finest offensive lines in recent college football history and the 2002 unit was considered the nation's finest by many observers. A native of Conshohocken, Pa., Kehoe played an instrumental role in the rebirth of Miami football, playing on the 1979 and 1980 teams that returned the Hurricanes to national status with a victory in the 1980 Peach Bowl (Miami's first bowl win since 1966). After his playing days ended, Kehoe stayed at Miami as a student assistant coach in 1981 and a graduate assistant coach from 1982-84. He ascended to full-time status in 1985 and worked with the offensive line since then. From 1992-94, Kehoe also tutored tight ends in addition to his duties with the offensive line. As a coach, Kehoe went to 21 bowl games with the Hurricanes and tutored some of the greatest players in Miami history, including Searcy, Mike Sullivan, Jones, Mercier, McKinnie, Gonzalez, Bibla, Romberg and Vernon Carey. A contemporary of legendary Miami quarterback Jim Kelly, Kehoe developed offensive lines that protected many of the Hurricanes' outstanding quarterbacks, including Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta and Ken Dorsey. Kehoe, 47, worked for five Miami head coaches, from Howard Schnellenberger to Jimmy Johnson, from Dennis Erickson to Butch Davis, and then under Larry Coker. Kehoe even served as Miami's interim head coach for 19 days during the transition from the Erickson to Davis eras in 1995. In addition to his coaching accomplishments, Kehoe was inducted into the University of Miami Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Laney JC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. Kehoe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Miami and an associate's degree in general studies from Laney J.C. in 1979. |
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