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| Justin Carrigan |
The upstart football program at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin has its first leader in place.
Justin Carrigan, a native Texan with longstanding ties to the Lone Star Conference, was named UTPB's first football coach at a news conference Friday morning.
The 35-year-old Carrigan, a 1998 graduate of Carrollton Turner High School, was a two-time all-conference safety for Angelo State in San Angelo and has worked on the coaching staffs at fellow LSC schools Midwestern State in Wichita Falls and Tarleton State in Stephenville.
UTPB president David Watts and athletics director Steve Aicinena both said Carrigan's ties to the conference, in which UTPB will compete beginning in the fall of 2016, helped set him apart from the other finalists for the job, Lindsey Wilson University head coach Chris Oliver and former Valparaiso head coach Dale Carlson. Watts and Aicinena also cited Carrigan's recruiting connections in the region.
Carrigan has spent the last five seasons at Tarleton State and the last three as offensive coordinator, with the Texans gaining at least 4,000 total yards apiece in 2012 and 2013 and amassing 5,228 total yards during a 5-5 season in 2014.
High school football coaches from around the region were on hand at UTPB for the announcement made at 11:30 a.m. in the Falcon Dome on campus.
Permian head coach Blake Feldt, Odessa High's Ron King, Midland High's Craig Yenzer, Midland Lee's James Morton, Crane's Naldo Esparza, Greenwood's Shad Hanna, Andrews' Ralph Mason, Monahans' Mickey Owens and Pecos' Chris Henson were among the area coaches in attendance. ECISD Athletic Director Todd Vesely also there, along with former Permian football coach John Wilkins, a member of UTPB's coaching search committee.
Carrigan was accompanied by his wife, Heather, and their 11-month-old daughter, Madalyn.
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