USD Football 2009

The University of San Diego introduced Ron Cara– gher as its new head football coach on January 9, 2007. Ca rag her became the Toreros' 12th head football coach at USD and replaced Jim Harbaugh who was hired as Stanford 's head coach . "As I talked to people around the country, I kept hearing the same things about Ron Caragher, " said Ky Snyder,Executive Director of Athletics."He is a student of the game, elite class of coach, very knowledgeable, great recruiter, develops players, motivated,competitor,greatfamily man,high char– acter and integrity.Thesearethequalitiesyou seek in a head coach and we have found them in Ron Ca rag her. He has had access to some of the best minds in coaching in Terry Donahue, Bob Toledo and Rich Brooks. He has been a winner his whole life and we expect that will continue at USD." Prior to being hired at USD,Caragher,(pronounced "CARE-ah-ger"),spentfour seasons (2003-2006) at the University of Kentucky as an assistant coach under Rich Brooks. He was the running backs coach all four years, and starting in 2005 served as Kentucky's Head Recruiting Coordinator. In 2006 Kentucky finished 8-5 overall,and 4-4 in the South– east Conference Eastern Division,good for a tie for third place and the program's best league mark since 1993. The 8 wins is also the program's best

Head Coach Ron Caragher enters his third season at the helm of the Torero football pro– gram. In 2008 he guided the Toreros to their second straight 9-2 record,and the team placed second in the PFL with its 6-2 mark. Senior WR John Matthews was named a First Team All-American and was also a Walter Payton Award candidate. He led all FCS receivers in catches (102), yards (1,478) and touchdowns (21 ).The season was capped off with the team's ' third straight win, a 28-20 home victory over scholarship-program UC Davis. Caragher's first season was outstanding as he guided the Toreros to a 9-2 overall mark and 6-1 Pioneer Football League record,good for a share of first place.It marked the third straight season that the Toreros were crowned PFL Champions. USD finished ranked second in the final Sports Network FCS Mid-Major poll. Seven Toreros were named Sports Network FCS All-Americans, while eleven players were tabbed Mid-Major All-Americans by the same outlet. Senior quarterback Josh Johnson was drafted by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in the 5th round, and three other players received looks by NFLclubs.Johnson,who passedfor43 touchdowns with just one interception,was a Walter Payton Award Finalist.Senior defensive end Eric Bakhtiari,who led the nation in sacks, was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award. UnderCaragher'sguidance as Offensive Coor– dinator, the Toreros ranked first in the nation among Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams in scoring (44.36 points per game) and passing efficiency (197.35 rating) .The 44 points per game average is a new USD single season record.Additionally, theToreros ranked 3rd in the nation in total offense (483.1 yards per game).

The CaragherFamily: Ron andhis wife,Wendy, with their three sons (l-r) Ryan, Scott and Josh.