Ron Antoine joined the Lamar University coaching staff in January 2020 after spending four seasons at Texas State. He is in his second season working with the Cardinals’ wide receivers and also serves as co-offensive coordinator.
Antoine arrived in Beaumont after spending four seasons at Texas State, including three years working with the Bobcat receivers. During that time, Antoine produced some of the Sun Belt’s top talent at receiver. During his short stay in San Marcos, two of his athletes garnered All-Sun Belt honors, while Elijah King became just the second Bobcat to record 50 receptions in a season since 2010.
Antoine’s group made 105 catches for 1,313 yards and nine scores in 2018. Antoine made the move to receivers after working with running backs and tight ends in 2016.
Antoine joined Texas State’s staff after working four years as an assistant at Fresno State, where he was the running backs coach for the Bulldogs in 2015 and coached the outside receivers the three previous years. In addition to his role on the sidelines, he also served as the Bulldogs’ recruiting coordinator during his final two seasons on campus.
Antoine’s efforts produced a pair of the most productive wide receivers in school history including current Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams was named to eight All-America teams in 2013 after shattering Fresno State and Mountain West Conference records with 24 touchdown receptions. He led the nation with 24 TDs in 2013 which also marked the fourth highest total in FBS history. He also led the nation with 131 receptions and was second nationally with 1,718 receiving yards – another school record. Adams also set school records with 233 receptions and 38 TD catches, which were also MWC records, in his two-year career. He was selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by Green Bay.
The Beaumont native went to Fresno after spending two years at South Alabama where he worked with the Jaguars’ wide receivers. There, he coached Courtney Smith who set multiple school single-season receiving records and became the first player in school history to be invited to the Senior Bowl.
Prior to his stint in Mobile, Antoine spent two seasons in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Arkansas. During that time, he coached running backs, fullbacks and tight ends. In his first season, the Razorbacks posted wins over a pair of nationally-ranked teams, Auburn and Tulsa. In his second season, Arkansas finished with an 8-5 record after defeating East Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Antoine made the jump to the NCAA FBS level after two seasons at Wofford. During that time, he also coached running backs and assisted with special teams at Wofford in 2006 and 2007. While at Wofford, the Terriers recorded two top 25 national rankings and won the 2007 Southern Conference title and finished ranked among the nation’s top 10. He spent one season on staff at Elon before joining the staff at Wofford.
Antoine took on a graduate assistant role at the University of Ohio in 1998. He returned to Ohio in 2001 to serve as the receivers’ coach and passing game coordinator in 2004. In between stints at Ohio, Antoine was an assistant coach at Fayetteville (N.C.) State in 2000.
He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Colorado State, where he was a four-year letterman as a wide receiver for the Rams in 1993-96. During his playing career, he won two WAC championship titles culminating in back-to-back Holiday Bowl appearances. Colorado State also won the WAC championship in 1997 when Antoine served as a student assistant coach. That season the Rams ended the year ranked 17th nationally after defeating 19th-ranked Missouri in the Holiday Bowl.
Antoine is a native of Beaumont, where he graduated from West Brook High School. He went on to earn his degree in exercise and sport science at Colorado State in 1997. Antoine received his master’s degree from Ohio in 2000. His wife, Zenarae, is in her eighth season as the head coach of Texas State’s women’s basketball team. They have three sons, Zachary, Zavier and Zayden.
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