University of Memphis Athletics
Utah State Assistant Kevin McGiven Recommended As Quarterbacks Coach
Dec 28, 2009 | Football
Dec. 28, 2009
MEMPHIS, TENN. - University of Memphis head football coach Larry Porter announced today that he will recommend Kevin McGiven to the Tennessee Board of Regents to serve as the Tigers' quarterbacks coach.
McGiven has experience both as an offensive coordinator and as a quarterbacks coach on the collegiate level, holding full-time positions at Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah. He spent the 2009 season on Gary Andersen's staff at Utah State, working with the quarterbacks and serving as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator.
This past season, Utah State ranked 35th nationally and fourth in the Western Athletic Conference in passing with an average of 247 yards per game. Utah State also improved from 89th nationally in total offense in 2008 to 14th in 2009, averaging 439 yards per game. McGiven was instrumental in quarterback Diondre Borel's success as he led the WAC and ranked 17th nationally in total offense. Borel, an All-WAC honoree, also ranked 37th nationally in pass efficiency and logged five games of 300 or more yards passing in 2009.
Prior to the 2009 campaign, McGiven was Weber State's offensive coordinator for three seasons, helping the Wildcats to a share of the Big Sky Conference title and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs, where they lost at No. 5 Montana. Weber State finished the season with a 10-4 record, marking only the second time in school history that WSU had won 10 games in a single season.
Weber State improved from fifth in the Big Sky in 2007 in total offense to leading the league and ranking seventh in the FCS in 2008 with 455.4 yards per game. The McGiven-led Wildcat offense also led the conference and ranked 12th in the FCS in scoring offense at 35.1 points per game in 2008. McGiven's offense was also second in the conference and fifth in the FCS in passing offense (324.3 ypg) and fifth in the league and 70th in the nation in rushing offense (131.0 ypg).
Under McGiven, Weber State had seven players earn first-team all-Big Sky Conference honors in 2008, part of a Big Sky Conference record 12 players on the first-team overall. Quarterback Cameron Higgins was not only a first-team selection but the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Higgins was a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the top offensive player in FCS. Higgins led the Big Sky and ranked third in FCS in passing efficiency (166.26) as well as leading the league and ranking fourth in FCS in total offense (314.3 ypg).
In 2007, McGiven mentored Higgins into a season of accolades, including the 2007 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year along with being an honorable mention all-Big Sky selection after ranking second in the league with a 143.20 passing efficiency rating.
McGiven served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks/receivers coach for Southern Utah (2005) after getting his start in the collegiate ranks as a graduate assistant at BYU in 2002. He worked with the wide receivers for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before moving to quarterbacks in 2004.
A native of Orem, Utah, McGiven played one season at Eastern Arizona Junior College and later played wide receiver at Louisiana Tech before finishing his bachelor's degree in business from Utah Valley State College in 2001.
