Rob Likens, a coaching veteran with more than 25 years of experience in the college ranks and a former assistant coach in the Pac-12 Conference, enters his first season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after serving as the Sun Devils wide receivers coach for one season.
“There was no doubt in my mind that Rob Likens was the man we needed to step up and fill this role as offensive coordinator,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards said. “Coach Likens provides much needed consistency and stability as we continue to build our staff. He has been heavily involved in the offensive game planning and play-calling and the improvement on offense this season with Coach Likens as Co-Offensive Coordinator speaks for itself. I have quickly learned that Rob cares deeply for these young men. I am excited to work with Rob as we continue to build upon this program.”
This will be the sixth offensive coordinator position of Likens’ career.
“The biggest thing that sticks out to me in why I chose to pursue this position was our student-athletes,” Likens said. “When I thought about guys like Manny Wilkins, N’Keal Harry, and Kyle Williams after seeing what they’ve gone through, I knew that I had to take this opportunity. To be a source of stability for these young men and to have the chance to see them develop and grow as individuals is the reason I got into this business. I’m going to be able to be there for those guys.
“It’s also an opportunity to work with Coach Edwards and I am thankful for this opportunity. We hit it off instantly when we met and had discussions about the future and the direction we both saw this program going. I’m so excited to learn from him and the experience he has had will be shared with the kids and with myself. It excites me that he has been in the business for so long and I think he will learn from me a little bit as well as it pertains to college football.”
Recent NFL players who Likens coached in college include Bryce Treggs (Philadelphia Eagles/California), Kenny Lawler (Seattle Seahawks/California), Chris Harper (San Francisco 49ers/California), Maurice Harris (Washington Redskins/California), Trevor Davis (Green Bay Packers/California), Quinton Patton (San Francisco 49ers/Louisiana Tech) and Myles White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Louisiana Tech).
In Likens’ first season with the Sun Devils working with the wide receivers and as co-offensive coordinator, ASU had the 10th highest-graded passing attack in the nation according to Pro Football Focus after being graded 86th in 2016. The 76-spot swing in the passing game rankings was the third highest in all of the FBS (second among Power Five schools).
The passing game was elevated by Likens’ receiving corps that was the 30th-highest graded group in the country in according to PFF - improving 11 spots from its 41st-place ranking last season.
Named first-team all-Pac-12 last season, wide receiver N’Keal Harry racked up 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. Harry averaged over 87 yards receiving per game and nearly 14 yards per catch in 2017. His 87 yards per game were the best in the Pac-12, and he finished second in the conference in receptions and yards.
The Sun Devils had five different receivers with 100+ yard-games in 2017, a total it had never before reached in an entire season.
A veteran orchestrator on the offensive side of the ball, Likens joined Kansas football head coach David Beaty’s staff in the role of offensive coordinator in January 2015. Likens went to KU in 2015 after completing his second season as the assistant head coach and outside receivers coach at the University of California with Sonny Dykes in 2014, and his first with the additional responsibilities of passing game coordinator.
In 2014, Likens’ Cal passing game, led by the 2016 NFL Draft No. 1 pick Jared Goff, ranked sixth in the NCAA in passing yards with 346.0 yards through the air per outing on its way to rewriting the Golden Bear single-season passing yardage record in 2014 with 4,152 yards. Additionally, three of his top four receivers were Biletnikoff Award candidates in Chris Harper, Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs.
Cal’s passing game during Likens’ first season with the Golden Bears in 2013 set single-season school records for passing yardage (3,977), pass completions (368) and pass attempts (622), while also establishing new single-game marks during the campaign for passing yardage (521 vs. Washington State) and pass attempts (65 vs. Northwestern).
Prior to his arrival in Berkeley, Likens served as an assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at Louisiana Tech from 2010-12, including a final campaign in Ruston in which Louisiana Tech posted a 9-3 record and led the nation in scoring offense and total offense by averaging 51.50 points and 577.92 yards of total offense per game.
Likens coached 2012 second-team AP All-American and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Quinton Patton, who was a major contributor to the team’s prolific scoring offense. Patton would go on to play four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and was most recently a member of the New York Jets.
Likens directed one of the most potent wide receiver corps in the country in 2012 led by Patton, who paced the Western Athletic Conference in both per-game receiving yards (116.00 ypg) and receptions (8.67 rpg), while ranking fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively. He finished with totals of 104 receptions, 1,392 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches.
In addition to leading the country in scoring offense and total offense with an offense that posted the fifth-highest per-game scoring average ever by a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Louisiana Tech was among the NCAA’s top 20 in 2012 in passing offense (3rd, 350.75 ypg), fewest sacks allowed (7th, 0.83 spg), turnover margin (10th, +1.08 per game) and rushing offense (18th, 227.17 ypg). The Bulldogs scored more than 40 points in 11 of 12 games and over 50 points on eight occasions.
Likens coached a group of receivers in 2011 that registered 3,229 receiving yards with 21 touchdown catches during a campaign that included a stretch of seven consecutive wins and a WAC championship. Patton became the first Bulldog receiver to reach 1,000 yards receiving since 2000.
In his first year at Tech in 2010, Likens oversaw a receiving corps that helped the Bulldogs improve from a No. 91 national ranking in passing offense in 2009 to No. 62 in 2010 despite a revolving door at quarterback through the first third of the season.
Prior to his three-year stint at Louisiana Tech, Likens served for four seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Central Connecticut State (2006-09) and led the Blue Devils to more wins than in any other four-year period in school history.
CCSU had winning records during each of Likens’ four seasons, capped off with a 9-3 mark in 2009 that included a Northeast Conference title and an appearance in the Gridiron Classic, as he coached the ground game to a top-10 national ranking among Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools each year.
Under Likens’ guidance, the Blue Devils led the conference in scoring offense two times, had three undefeated home records and averaged just under 30 points per game in four seasons (29.1 ppg). Likens coached a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, Walter Payton Award finalists, All-America running backs and NEC Offensive Players of the Year in Justise Hairston and James Mallory.
The Blue Devils averaged 239.18 yards per game on the ground in 2008 to rank seventh in the FCS when the team also paced the Northeast Conference in scoring offense, averaging 30.0 points per game. Mallory rushed for 1,520 yards and earned second-team All-NEC honors, becoming the second player in school history to crack the 1,500-yard mark in rushing.
In 2007, CCSU led the NEC in both per-game total offense (387.7 ypg) and rushing offense (257.6 ypg), ranking 10th nationally in the latter.
The Blue Devil offense set numerous school records in 2006, including single-season total yards (4,271) and rushing yards (3,150). CCSU led the nation in rushing yards per game (284.9 ypg) and finished 10th in total offense (386.8 ypg). As a team, CCSU set new single-season marks with 42 rushing touchdowns and 51 touchdowns overall in 11 games.
Hairston set the school’s single-season record and was the nation’s leading FCS rusher in 2006 with 1,847 yards. He earned AP All-America, AFCA All-America, Sports Network Mid-Major All-America and NEC Offensive Player of the Year honors that season. Hairston was eighth in the final Walter Payton Award balloting, played in the Hula Bowl and Texas vs. the Nation Game, and was a sixth-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2007 NFL Draft.
In all, CCSU’s offense produced eight team records and six individual and single-game marks under Likens. He coached four-first team All-NEC selections, four second-team All-NEC choices and five NEC Offensive Player of the Week honorees, giving him 13 all-conference picks in his four seasons.
Prior to joining Central Connecticut State, Likens spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State (2004-05), where he also worked specifically with the team’s quarterbacks and wide receivers. He spent six campaigns at both Temple (1998-2003) as the wide receivers coach and North Alabama (1992-97), where he worked with the running backs for the first season of his tenure and the wide receivers for his final five. At North Alabama, he helped the Lions become the first program in NCAA scholarship football to win three consecutive national championships, a feat that no other Division II school has ever accomplished and that has only since been replicated by FCS schools Appalachian State (2005-07) and North Dakota State (2011-13).
Likens played collegiate football as a wide receiver at Mississippi State, earning his bachelor’s degree and graduating cum laude in 1990 in math education. He earned his master’s degree in math education from North Alabama in 1995.
Likens and his wife, Soni, have one son, Cutter.
LIKENS AT A GLANCE
COACHING EXPERIENCE
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
BOWL GAMES - COACH
“There was no doubt in my mind that Rob Likens was the man we needed to step up and fill this role as offensive coordinator,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards said. “Coach Likens provides much needed consistency and stability as we continue to build our staff. He has been heavily involved in the offensive game planning and play-calling and the improvement on offense this season with Coach Likens as Co-Offensive Coordinator speaks for itself. I have quickly learned that Rob cares deeply for these young men. I am excited to work with Rob as we continue to build upon this program.”
This will be the sixth offensive coordinator position of Likens’ career.
“The biggest thing that sticks out to me in why I chose to pursue this position was our student-athletes,” Likens said. “When I thought about guys like Manny Wilkins, N’Keal Harry, and Kyle Williams after seeing what they’ve gone through, I knew that I had to take this opportunity. To be a source of stability for these young men and to have the chance to see them develop and grow as individuals is the reason I got into this business. I’m going to be able to be there for those guys.
“It’s also an opportunity to work with Coach Edwards and I am thankful for this opportunity. We hit it off instantly when we met and had discussions about the future and the direction we both saw this program going. I’m so excited to learn from him and the experience he has had will be shared with the kids and with myself. It excites me that he has been in the business for so long and I think he will learn from me a little bit as well as it pertains to college football.”
Recent NFL players who Likens coached in college include Bryce Treggs (Philadelphia Eagles/California), Kenny Lawler (Seattle Seahawks/California), Chris Harper (San Francisco 49ers/California), Maurice Harris (Washington Redskins/California), Trevor Davis (Green Bay Packers/California), Quinton Patton (San Francisco 49ers/Louisiana Tech) and Myles White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Louisiana Tech).
In Likens’ first season with the Sun Devils working with the wide receivers and as co-offensive coordinator, ASU had the 10th highest-graded passing attack in the nation according to Pro Football Focus after being graded 86th in 2016. The 76-spot swing in the passing game rankings was the third highest in all of the FBS (second among Power Five schools).
The passing game was elevated by Likens’ receiving corps that was the 30th-highest graded group in the country in according to PFF - improving 11 spots from its 41st-place ranking last season.
Named first-team all-Pac-12 last season, wide receiver N’Keal Harry racked up 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. Harry averaged over 87 yards receiving per game and nearly 14 yards per catch in 2017. His 87 yards per game were the best in the Pac-12, and he finished second in the conference in receptions and yards.
The Sun Devils had five different receivers with 100+ yard-games in 2017, a total it had never before reached in an entire season.
A veteran orchestrator on the offensive side of the ball, Likens joined Kansas football head coach David Beaty’s staff in the role of offensive coordinator in January 2015. Likens went to KU in 2015 after completing his second season as the assistant head coach and outside receivers coach at the University of California with Sonny Dykes in 2014, and his first with the additional responsibilities of passing game coordinator.
In 2014, Likens’ Cal passing game, led by the 2016 NFL Draft No. 1 pick Jared Goff, ranked sixth in the NCAA in passing yards with 346.0 yards through the air per outing on its way to rewriting the Golden Bear single-season passing yardage record in 2014 with 4,152 yards. Additionally, three of his top four receivers were Biletnikoff Award candidates in Chris Harper, Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs.
Cal’s passing game during Likens’ first season with the Golden Bears in 2013 set single-season school records for passing yardage (3,977), pass completions (368) and pass attempts (622), while also establishing new single-game marks during the campaign for passing yardage (521 vs. Washington State) and pass attempts (65 vs. Northwestern).
Prior to his arrival in Berkeley, Likens served as an assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at Louisiana Tech from 2010-12, including a final campaign in Ruston in which Louisiana Tech posted a 9-3 record and led the nation in scoring offense and total offense by averaging 51.50 points and 577.92 yards of total offense per game.
Likens coached 2012 second-team AP All-American and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Quinton Patton, who was a major contributor to the team’s prolific scoring offense. Patton would go on to play four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and was most recently a member of the New York Jets.
Likens directed one of the most potent wide receiver corps in the country in 2012 led by Patton, who paced the Western Athletic Conference in both per-game receiving yards (116.00 ypg) and receptions (8.67 rpg), while ranking fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively. He finished with totals of 104 receptions, 1,392 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches.
In addition to leading the country in scoring offense and total offense with an offense that posted the fifth-highest per-game scoring average ever by a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Louisiana Tech was among the NCAA’s top 20 in 2012 in passing offense (3rd, 350.75 ypg), fewest sacks allowed (7th, 0.83 spg), turnover margin (10th, +1.08 per game) and rushing offense (18th, 227.17 ypg). The Bulldogs scored more than 40 points in 11 of 12 games and over 50 points on eight occasions.
Likens coached a group of receivers in 2011 that registered 3,229 receiving yards with 21 touchdown catches during a campaign that included a stretch of seven consecutive wins and a WAC championship. Patton became the first Bulldog receiver to reach 1,000 yards receiving since 2000.
In his first year at Tech in 2010, Likens oversaw a receiving corps that helped the Bulldogs improve from a No. 91 national ranking in passing offense in 2009 to No. 62 in 2010 despite a revolving door at quarterback through the first third of the season.
Prior to his three-year stint at Louisiana Tech, Likens served for four seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Central Connecticut State (2006-09) and led the Blue Devils to more wins than in any other four-year period in school history.
CCSU had winning records during each of Likens’ four seasons, capped off with a 9-3 mark in 2009 that included a Northeast Conference title and an appearance in the Gridiron Classic, as he coached the ground game to a top-10 national ranking among Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools each year.
Under Likens’ guidance, the Blue Devils led the conference in scoring offense two times, had three undefeated home records and averaged just under 30 points per game in four seasons (29.1 ppg). Likens coached a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, Walter Payton Award finalists, All-America running backs and NEC Offensive Players of the Year in Justise Hairston and James Mallory.
The Blue Devils averaged 239.18 yards per game on the ground in 2008 to rank seventh in the FCS when the team also paced the Northeast Conference in scoring offense, averaging 30.0 points per game. Mallory rushed for 1,520 yards and earned second-team All-NEC honors, becoming the second player in school history to crack the 1,500-yard mark in rushing.
In 2007, CCSU led the NEC in both per-game total offense (387.7 ypg) and rushing offense (257.6 ypg), ranking 10th nationally in the latter.
The Blue Devil offense set numerous school records in 2006, including single-season total yards (4,271) and rushing yards (3,150). CCSU led the nation in rushing yards per game (284.9 ypg) and finished 10th in total offense (386.8 ypg). As a team, CCSU set new single-season marks with 42 rushing touchdowns and 51 touchdowns overall in 11 games.
Hairston set the school’s single-season record and was the nation’s leading FCS rusher in 2006 with 1,847 yards. He earned AP All-America, AFCA All-America, Sports Network Mid-Major All-America and NEC Offensive Player of the Year honors that season. Hairston was eighth in the final Walter Payton Award balloting, played in the Hula Bowl and Texas vs. the Nation Game, and was a sixth-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2007 NFL Draft.
In all, CCSU’s offense produced eight team records and six individual and single-game marks under Likens. He coached four-first team All-NEC selections, four second-team All-NEC choices and five NEC Offensive Player of the Week honorees, giving him 13 all-conference picks in his four seasons.
Prior to joining Central Connecticut State, Likens spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State (2004-05), where he also worked specifically with the team’s quarterbacks and wide receivers. He spent six campaigns at both Temple (1998-2003) as the wide receivers coach and North Alabama (1992-97), where he worked with the running backs for the first season of his tenure and the wide receivers for his final five. At North Alabama, he helped the Lions become the first program in NCAA scholarship football to win three consecutive national championships, a feat that no other Division II school has ever accomplished and that has only since been replicated by FCS schools Appalachian State (2005-07) and North Dakota State (2011-13).
Likens played collegiate football as a wide receiver at Mississippi State, earning his bachelor’s degree and graduating cum laude in 1990 in math education. He earned his master’s degree in math education from North Alabama in 1995.
Likens and his wife, Soni, have one son, Cutter.
LIKENS AT A GLANCE
| Alma Mater: Mississippi State, 1990 |
| Hometown: Brookhaven, Miss. |
| Wife: Soni |
| Children: Cutter |
COACHING EXPERIENCE
| 2017-Present, Arizona State (Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach) | |
| 2016-Present, Arizona State (WR/Passing Game Coordinator) | |
| 2015-2016, Kansas (Offensive Coord.) | |
| 2014, Cal (Asst. HC/Passing Coord./Outside Receivers) | |
| 2013, Cal (Asst. HC/Outside Receivers) | |
| 2010-12, Louisiana Tech (Asst. HC/WR) | |
| 2006-09, Central Connecticut State (OC/QB) | |
| 2004-05, SEMO (OC/QB/WR) | |
| 1998-2003, Temple (WR) | |
| 1993-97, North Alabama (WR) | |
| 1992, North Alabama (RB) |
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
| 1985-87, Mississippi State |
BOWL GAMES - COACH
| 2017, Sun Bowl (Arizona State) |
| 2011, Poinsettia Bowl (Louisiana Tech) |
| 2009, Gridiron Classic (Central Connecticut State) |
| 1997, NCAA Division II First Round (North Alabama) |
| 1995, NCAA Division II Champions (North Alabama) |
| 1994, NCAA Division II Champions (North Alabama) |
| 1993, NCAA Division II Champions (North Alabama) |
| 1992, NCAA Quarterfinals (North Alabama) |