USF Athletics

Shaun King was named USF running backs coach by head coach Charlie Strong in January of 2017. King had previously served one year on the Bulls’ coaching staff as quarterbacks in 2016 under then head coach Willie Taggart.
 
A Bay Area native who played six seasons in the NFL, including five with the Buccaneers, King was among the first true dual-threat quarterbacks in NCAA football during a standout career at Tulane.

In 2018, running back Jordan Cronkrite became the fifth 1,000-yard rusher in program history (1,121) and combined with Johnny Ford (787) to run for 1,908 yards and 17 touchdowns. Cronkrite set a USF and conference record game record with 302 yards at UMass and posted the sixth-best rushing season in program history. Ford's 6.8 yards per carry on the year ranked 12th in FBS and tied for the second-best season in USF history (minimum 75 carries).

In his first season as running backs coach at USF (2017), King saw USF become the only team in the nation with three players to run for 800 yards or more. Senior running backs Darius Tice (986 yards and 11 TD) and D’Ernest Johnson (836 yards and 7 TD) both had career-best years and joined quarterback Quinton Flowers (1,078 yards and 11 TD) in helping USF run for 3,169 yards and 30 touchdowns. The Bulls ranked eighth in the nation in rushing offense (264.1 ypg) and stood sixth in total (513.0 ypg) and 10^th in scoring offense (38.3 ppg). The Bulls ran for 200 yards or more in nine games, eclipsing 300 yards in five.
 
In 2016, King coached the Bulls’ quarterbacks during a record-setting season for the USF offense and American Conference Offensive Player of the Year Quinton Flowers. King helped guide Flowers to numerous USF season records including marks for total offense (4,337 yards), total touchdowns (42), passing touchdowns (24), rushing yards (1,530) and rushing touchdowns (18). Flowers rushing total of 1,530 yards ranks as the fifth-best mark ever by an FBS quarterback and his 7.73 yards per carry average ranked fourth among all FBS players in 2016. The USF offense set nearly 40 team and individual records, including team records for total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714) and scoring (569 points), while the Bulls posted a school-record 11-2 mark, achieved a Top 25 ranking and won the program’s fifth bowl game.

Prior to accepting his first collegiate coaching position at USF, King  worked as an NFL and college football analyst for NBC and Yahoo Sports. His previous coaching experience included serving as assistant head coach coach of Team Tampa 7-on-7, quarterbacks coach for Big County Preps and assistant head coach, offensive coach and quarterbacks coach at Gibbs High School (St. Petersburg).

Selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft, King went on to pass for 4,566 yards and 27 touchdowns with a QB rating of 73.4 in the NFL. He played for Tampa Bay (1999-2003) and Arizona (2004) during a six-year NFL career. He also played one season for the Las Vegas Gladiators (2007) in the Arena Football League.

King took over for an injured Trent Dilfer toward the end of his rookie season in Tampa Bay. He led the Buccaneers to a 4-1 record in the final five games, an NFC Central Division title and an appearance in the 1999 NFC Championship game vs. the Rams.

In the 2000, King started all 16 games and led the Bucs to a 10-6 record while completing 54 percent of his passes for 2,769 yards and 18 touchdowns while also running for five touchdowns. He led Tampa Bay to a thrilling Monday Night Football win that clinched a playoff spot, driving the trailing Buccaneers for a game-winning touchdown vs. the Rams with less than a minute to play.

King was a member of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl XXXVII championship team before departing Tampa Bay in 2004 with a 14-8 (.636) record in regular season games. He went on to start two games for the Arizona Cardinals, throwing for a season-high 343 yards against the Carolina Panthers in 2006.

As a member of the Las Vegas Gladiators he threw 10 touchdowns in a game against the Grand Rapids Rampage in 2007. He completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,635 yards and 17 touchdowns vs. eight interceptions in his AFL career.

A four-year starter at quarterback at Tulane, King completed 55.7 percent of his passes for 8,695 yards, 72 touchdowns and 34 interceptions on his collegiate career for a passer rating of 130.6. He also amassed 1,158 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns while starting 52 games at quarterback.

One of the first true dual-threat quarterbacks, King finished 10^th in Heisman Trophy voting during the 1998 season, as he led the Green Wave to a perfect 12-0 season and victory over BYU in the Liberty Bowl. He completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards and 38 touchdowns with just six interceptions for an NCAA record 183.3-passer rating. He also ran for 641 yards and 11 touchdowns, to become the first player in NCAA history to pass for over 3,000 yards and run for more than 500 yards in a season.

Running the spread offense under quarterbacks coach Rich Rodgriquez, he became the first player in NCAA history to both pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game against Army on November 14, 1998.

Selected as the 1998 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, he finished first in the NCAA in pass efficiency and total touchdowns (49), third in passing touchdowns and fifth in total yards (4,149). In his junior season, King completed 54.8 percent of his passes for 2,577 yards, 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while rushing for 511 yards and five touchdowns.

Following his playing career, King began a career in sports media. From 2007-10 he served as an ESPN studio analyst for NFL and NCAA football appearing on First Take, NFL Live and ESPNews. He was also ESPN's lead analyst for Arena Football League coverage. In 2010, he worked as a game analyst for Bright House Sports Network in the Bay Area. From 2012-14 he served as an NFL analyst for NBC Sports Network and in 2014 he moved to Yahoo! Sports as an NFL analyst. He also worked as a game analyst for FOX Sports Net, Versus and NBC Sports and co-hosted the King David Radio Show on 1010 AM in Tampa.

King earned a degree in marketing from Tulane's AB Freeman School of Business in 1998. He was born in St. Petersburg in 1977 and graduated from Gibbs High School, where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2016.

King and his wife, Faith, have three children: Ahja (6), Adara (3) and Shaun Jr. (1).