It didn’t take long for Indiana to find its next wide receivers coach.
And that’s because the IU staff turned to a familiar face.
Just days after the news broke Adam Henry was leaving IU to join the Buffalo Bills, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg is reporting Tom Allen will hire Anthony Tucker as his replacement.
Tucker is coming to Bloomington after spending two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Utah State. While there the Aggies were 96th nationally in total offense in 2022, and 19th in 2021.
Tucker came to Utah State after spending the previous three years at UCF as he helped the Golden Knights to a 28-8 record, including a 19-5 conference mark, and three bowl games. Highlighting this stint was the 2018 season, as UCF won the American Athletic Conference with an 8-0 record and finished the year ranked No. 11 in the nation with a 12-1 record, culminating in an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
Tucker spent the 2018 season as the Knights’ running backs coach, added the title of passing game coordinator in 2019 and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2020.
Prior to UCF, Tucker spent two seasons as the running backs coach at Maryland. There he worked under current IU offensive coordinator Walt Bell.
Tucker also spent three seasons coaching the running backs (2014-15) and wide receivers (2013) at Arkansas State under Bell.
At Idaho State during the 2011-12 seasons, Tucker coached wide receivers on a squad that was among the top 10 in the nation in passing in back-to-back seasons. He was also an offensive technical assistant at Colorado in 2010 and coached wide receivers and was the passing game coordinator at Lakewood (California) High School from 2006-09.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Tucker played professional football. He signed as a free agent with the New York Giants in 1999 and earned a practice squad spot in 2000. He later played for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 2001 and signed with the St. Louis Rams in 2002 before suffering a career-ending injury.
Tucker holds a bachelor’s degree from Fresno State, where he was a two-year starter at wide receiver. He was a Western Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete and a three-time member of the Dean’s List, and was once a member of the President’s List by virtue of having a 4.0 GPA.
A football and track & field star at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, Calif., under coach John Barnes, the winningest coach in Orange County history, he helped his team compile a perfect 14-0 record his senior season in 1993 to win the school’s third straight CIF championship. He was a team captain on the track, where he participated in hurdle and sprinting events.
He was born February 27, 1976 at the Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. He lived in Seoul, Korea for a year as a child.
ANTHONY TUCKER FILE
Coaching History
2021-22 Utah State – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2020 UCF – Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs
2019 UCF – Passing Game Coordinator/Running Backs
2018 UCF – Running Backs
2016-17 Maryland – Running Backs
2013-15 Arkansas State – Running Backs/Wide Receivers
2011-12 Idaho State – Wide Receivers
2010 Colorado – Offensive Technical Assistant
2006-09 Lakewood (Calif.) HS – Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers
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