AURORA, Colo. — The former head football coach at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) will be taking a new coaching position in Aurora.
Earnest Collins Jr. will be the new head football coach at Gateway High School in Aurora, the school announced Tuesday.
"Gateway High School would like to welcome Coach Earnest Collins and his wife, Mrs. Tabatha Collins, to the Olympian Family," said the school in a statement. "We are excited to introduce Coach Collins as the next head football coach at Gateway High School."
> Above video: Prep Rally Honor Roll: 4/6/21
Collins spent nine seasons as the head coach of the UNC Bears in the Big Sky Conference from 2011 to 2019.
Collins' coaching career has also included stops at Northwest Missouri State, the University of Kansas, Central Florida and Alcorn State.
Most recently, Collins was named Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Operations at Florida Memorial University in March 2020.
During his nine-year career with UNC, Collins finished with a 28-72 record. He also led the team to its first two winning seasons in 2015 and 2016 as a Divison I program.
The university said the football program's graduation success rate also grew from 66 percent to 82 percent during Collins' tenure.
He coached four All-American selections and 64 All-Big Sky players, according to UNC. Collins also had six of his players go on to play with NFL teams and two more with the CFL.
> Top stories curated daily just for you! Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER to get can’t-miss stories, Next and Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports
MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS
Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER
Download the 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n
HOW TO ADD THE 9NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "9news" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.