Art Kehoe Position: Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line

The 2005 football season will mark Art Kehoe's 27th season as a part of Miami football. Kehoe, who added the title of assistant head coach in 2002 while keeping his primary job as offensive line coach, is the longest-tenured coach on Larry Coker's staff. A former offensive lineman and the modern day "Mr. Miami Football" to many fans, Kehoe has been with Miami's coaching staff for 25 years.

Kehoe began his coaching career in 1981 as a student assistant at UM. A 1982 graduate of UM, he has been an integral part of the Miami football renaissance since its beginning in the late 1970s and is the only person who has been in the UM 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 ranks among the longest of any UM athletics figure, a span during which he has either played or coached for five head football coaches. In 20 seasons working with the offensive line at UM, Kehoe has 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 has been on the staff of all five UM 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 UM to national status with a victory in the 1980 Peach Bowl (UM's first bowl win since 1966). After his playing days ended, Kehoe stayed at UM as a student assistant coach in 1981 and a graduate assistant coach from 1982-84. He ascended to full-time status in 1985 and has 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 has been to 20 bowl games with the Hurricanes and has 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 UM quarterback Jim Kelly, Kehoe has developed offensive lines that have protected many of the Hurricanes' outstanding quarterbacks including Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta and Ken Dorsey.

Kehoe, 47, has worked for five Miami head coaches, from Howard Schnellenberger to Jimmy Johnson, from Dennis Erickson to Butch Davis, and now under Larry Coker. Kehoe even served as UM'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 Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Laney JC Athletic 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.

Personal Information

Kehoe's Coaching Career

Bowl Games as a Coach (19)
2004 Peach Bowl
2004 Orange Bowl
2003 Fiesta Bowl
2002 Rose Bowl
2001 Sugar Bowl
2000 Gator Bowl
1998 Micron PC Bowl
1996 Carquest Bowl
1995 Orange Bowl
1994 Fiesta Bowl
1993 Sugar Bowl
1992 Orange Bowl
1991 Cotton Bowl
1990 Sugar Bowl
1989 Orange Bowl
1988 Orange Bowl
1987 Fiesta Bowl
1986 Sugar Bowl
1985 Fiesta Bowl
1984 Orange Bowl

Coaching Accomplishments