Larry Blakeney is a winner. Always has been.

From his time as a quarterback at Auburn University, to his highly successful high school coaching career, to his 14 years as an assistant coach at his alma mater when the Tigers enjoyed an unprecedented run of success, Blakeney has always been associated with winning and a job well done.

His tenure at Troy University has been nothing less. During his 18 years as head coach, he has led the Trojans to a 144-73-1 record, third-best among all programs in the state of Alabama during that span.

Already the school’s longest-serving and most successful head coach of all time, Blakeney has led the Troy football program to an unequaled run of success that has taken the Trojans from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and now to the grandest stage of all, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Blakeney has guided the Trojans to 11 winning seasons, including six seasons of 10 wins or more. For all of his hard work, this past season, he was selected to the 2009 class of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, being inducted May 30.

The Trojans took a huge step forward in 2006, capturing their first Sun Belt Conference championship and winning the first bowl game in school history, a decisive 41-17 victory over Rice in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. That victory completed an 8-5 season, the best record for the Troy program since the move to the FBS.

The roll continued in 2007 as the Trojans earned a share of their second consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship. The Trojans’ 8-4 record included nationally-televised victories over Oklahoma State and Middle Tennessee.

The roll did not stop in 2008, as the Trojans won their third consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship and an appearance in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in 2008. The season included nationally-televised victories over Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic, as well as games against Southern Miss and regionally televised games against Ohio State and LSU. The Trojans also recorded eight victories for the third consecutive season in the FBS.

This past season, Blakeney was awarded the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Award due to his team’s first outright Sun Belt Conference championship. The award is voted upon by the league’s head coaches and media representatives.

The program made its first big splash at the sport’s highest level in 2004 by producing a 7-5 record that included the school’s first-ever bowl bid to the Silicon Valley Classic. The grand unveiling of a renovated Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium was highlighted by a 24-14 upset of Missouri that was televised live by ESPN.

In 2003, the Trojans posted a 6-6 mark against one of the most challenging schedules in the nation, which included eight road games and contests against traditional powers Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Virginia. In addition, the Trojans faced and defeated Marshall and UAB, and played four other schools from the Sun Belt Conference. That same season, the Trojans defeated four FBS foes, the most in school history to that point, in a single-season.

The Trojans played their first official season as a FBS member in 2002 after going 7-4 in their "transition" season in 2001. Included in the 2001 win total were three wins over FBS foes and a monumental upset of Southeastern Conference (SEC) power Mississippi State University, the school’s first-ever victory over a BCS-conference school. Of the team’s four losses, three came against opponents ranked in the Top 15 nationally; national-runner-up Nebraska, 15th-ranked Maryland and national champion Miami (FL).

In 2002, the Trojans were 4-8 against a schedule that included games against two SEC schools, three Big 12 opponents, in-state rival UAB and perennial bowl participant Marshall. The Troy defense finished fourth in the nation in total defense in 2002 despite the challenging slate.

While a member of the FCS, the Trojans enjoyed their most successful run in school history. Over eight seasons, the Trojans advanced to the national semifinals twice and the FCS postseason seven times, including a NCAA-record four consecutive seasons after making the move to NCAA Division I-AA in 1993.

When the Trojans jumped to FBS status, Blakeney again made NCAA history, becoming one of only two coaches to lead a program from NCAA Division II to the FBS, joining Central Florida’s Gene McDowell.

Blakeney’s journey began on December 3, 1990 when he was hired as the 20th head coach in school history. During the 1980s, Troy won two NCAA Division II national championships, but the program was a rebuilding project upon Blakeney’s arrival. In the three years prior to him accepting the job, the Trojans had combined for a 13-17 overall record.

His first two seasons came during the "transition" period in the move to FCS status. The program was still technically Division II, although it was not allowed to compete in the playoffs. Blakeney’s first team finished 5-6, but a 10-1 second year, which included a 41-7 win over FBS member Arkansas State, gave Troy fans a glimpse of what was to come.

Troy hit its first full season of FCS play running in 1993 when Blakeney led the Trojans to a 12-1-1 finish and a berth in the FCS semifinals. The 10-0-1 regular season finish was the program’s first undefeated season in school history while playing a complete schedule. Troy finished the regular season as the top-ranked team in country according to the Sports Network.

The following season brought an 8-4 record and another berth in the playoffs. The Trojans lost in the first round at James Madison, but they proved they deserved a spot among the elite programs, finishing the year ranked 12th.

The 1995 season brought the first unbeaten and untied regular season to the school annals when Troy took an 11-0 record into the postseason before losing in the first round to Georgia Southern. Troy entered the playoffs ranked third in the nation.

For all of the success the team enjoyed in its first three FCS seasons, Blakeney’s rebuilding skills were displayed once again during the 1996 season after the loss of 23 seniors from the 1995 squad. Going into its first season of play in the Southland Football League, the Trojans won the league by posting a 5-1 mark and a 10-1 record overall. Troy finished the year 12-2 and again marched to the FCS semifinals. That netted a fourth-place finish in the Sports Network Top 25 and a 12th-place ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

The 1996 seniors certainly left their mark, finishing their careers as the all-time winningest class at Troy with a 43-8-1 mark over four years. That eclipsed the 1995 senior class that had amassed a 41-7-1 record.

Those groups represented Blakeney’s first two recruiting classes at Troy. The Trojans became the first team in NCAA history to advance to the FCS playoffs in their first four seasons of eligibility, and finished with seven playoff berths in eight full seasons of FCS membership.

Untimely injuries and four losses by seven points or less doomed the 1997 team as it slipped to a 5-6 record despite an early-season ranking that saw the Trojans rise as high as number two nationally. A return to the FCS playoffs in 1998 highlighted an 8-4 season that saw the Trojans finish 11th (Sports Network) and 13th (ESPN/USA Today) in the polls.

The Trojans climbed back to the top of the charts in 1999 when they were the consensus top-ranked team in the country for a four-week period en route to finishing 11-2 overall and winning the Southland League football championship. The Trojans also advanced to the FCS quarterfinals and finished with a number six national ranking in all three polls. Senior defensive lineman Al Lucas became the first National Player of the Year in school history by winning the Buck Buchanan Award as the top FCS defensive player.

Blakeney won back-to-back SFL Coach of the Year awards in 1999 and 2000, and was also honored as Regional Coach of the Year in back-to-back years by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). During the summer of 2000, he was honored with the Johnny Vaught Lifetime Achievement Award by the All-American Football Foundation.

And while success has certainly been a mainstay of the Trojans on the field, numerous Troy players have parlayed their ability in professional careers as well. More than a dozen players have been selected in the NFL Draft during Blakeney’s Troy career, six in the past seven years.

Demarcus Ware (first round by the Dallas Cowboys in 2005) set the standard when he was taken 11th overall, but that mark was equaled during the 2008 draft when Leodis McKelvin was selected with the 11th overall pick by the Buffalo Bills. The selection of McKelvin also tied the Sun Belt Conference record for the highest selection of a conference player.

Two former Trojans, Osi Umenyiora (second round by the New York Giants in 2003) and Lawrence Tynes (free agent 2001) earned Super Bowl rings in February 2008 as key components of the New York Giants. They join former Trojan Kerry Jenkins (Tampa Bay Bucs) as Super Bowl Champions.

In addition to Tynes, Troy has had 52 additional players sign professional football free agent deals, with 26 of those coming in the NFL. Seven came in 2004 with another pair coming in 2003. A record eight players signed deals following the 2008 season.

Prior to his arrival in Troy, Blakeney had a variety of roles in his 14 seasons at Auburn. He began his coaching career as the assistant offensive line coach during the 1977 and 1978 seasons. That was followed by stints with the Tigers’ tight ends and wide receivers from 1978 until 1980, and then a focus strictly on wide receivers from 1981 until 1990.

From 1986-90, Blakeney was also the Tigers’ offensive play-caller. During that time, Auburn posted a 47-10-3 record and won three Southeastern Conference championships. They also were 3-1-1 in bowl games over that span.

Auburn had a 110-50-3 record during his time with the program, including four SEC championships and nine bowl appearances (6-2-1). In 1990, he was honored by the Chilton County Auburn Club with its "Unsung Hero Award."

Before joining the coaching staff at his alma mater, Blakeney coached seven seasons in the Alabama high school ranks. He was the head coach at Southern Academy from 1970 until 1971, Walker High School from 1972 until 1974 and Vestavia Hills High School from 1975 until 1976. He compiled a 50-24-2 record during his time as a prep head coach.

A 1970 graduate of Auburn University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Blakeney was a three-year letterman at quarterback for the legendary Ralph "Shug" Jordan from 1966 until 1969. He was the first sophomore ever to start for Jordan, and Auburn played in two bowl games during Blakeney’s career. The 1968 team defeated Arizona 34-10 in the Sun Bowl, while the 1969 squad lost 36-7 to the University of Houston in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Blakeney was a two-sport star for the Tigers, also lettering in baseball in 1968 and 1969 while playing shortstop and third base for legendary coach Paul Nix.

He earned his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Montevallo in 1976.

Blakeney was born September 21, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, but grew up in nearby Gordo, Alabama, where he played football, baseball and basketball at Gordo High School.

He is married to the former Janice Powell. The couple has three daughters, Kelley and twins, Julie and Tiffany. Kelley, a graduate of Troy University and the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical School, is a doctor of pathology in Columbia, Tennessee. Julie, a Troy marketing graduate, works for an insurance agency in Birmingham. Tiffany, who graduated with an International Business degree from Troy University, lives with her husband Jason Rash in Atlanta. The Blakeneys have three granddaughters; Caroline Elizabeth Taylor, Madeline Ann Rash and Danielle Avery Rash.