GREELEY, Colo. — The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) announced Sunday that Earnest Collins Jr, head coach of the football program, will not be returning for the 2020 season.
The university's director of athletics, Darren Dunn, said the decision was not an easy one to make.
"We would like to thank Earnest for his dedication to the student-athletes, the Athletics Department and the University of Northern Colorado over the past nine years," Dunn said. "He has been a positive role model not only for hundreds of football student-athletes but to other coaches, staff and student-athletes at UNC."
During his nine-year career with UNC, the school said 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 the school. Collins also had six of his players go on to play with NFL teams and two more with the CFL.
Dunn announced that the university will be using College Sports Solutions in the national search for the next coach.
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