Art Kehoe

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Art Kehoe is in his fifth season as the offensive line coach and his 31st year overall as a Miami Hurricane. Kehoe, an integral part of The U Football legacy, has coached some of the best offensive linemen to ever play the game.

In 2014, Kehoe continued Miami’s offensive line legacy as he coached three offensive lineman, which would go on to sign NFL contracts following the 2014 campaign, including offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, who was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

Under Kehoe’s leadership in 2014, the Hurricanes’ line paved the way for an offensive unit to average 430.3 yards per game, a figure that ranked fourth in the ACC. In addition, Miami’s offensive line cleared lanes for three Hurricane running backs to rush for over 5.0 yards per carry. As a team, Miami averaged 180.4 rushing yards per game.

During the 2013 campaign, Miami’s offensive line averaged 160.3 yards per game on the ground and saw four running backs average over 4.0 yards per carry.  

In 2012, Kehoe coached an offensive line that paved the way for the ACC’s third-best passing offense led by Stephen Morris’ 3,345 passing yards and FWAA Freshman All-American Duke Johnson, who rushed for a UM freshman-record 947 yards.

In his first season back at Miami since 2005, Kehoe coached a 2011 line that helped UM to one of its most efficient offensive seasons in memory. The line blocked for the likes of Lamar Miller (1,272 rushing yards) and protected quarterback Jacory Harris (2,486 passing yards) en route to a national ranking of No. 3 in offensive efficiency, according to Footballoutsiders.com.

Kehoe returned to his alma mater in 2011, where he served as an assistant and eventually offensive line coach from 1981-2005. Kehoe began his coaching career in 1981 as a student assistant at UM. A 1982 graduate of Miami, he was an integral part of the Miami football renaissance since its beginnings in the late 1970s. He came to Miami in 1979 as a transfer from Laney Junior College in Oakland, Calif., and started at guard for the Hurricanes for two seasons under head coach Howard Schnellenberger.

Kehoe’s tenure of 31 years at Miami, a span during which he has either played or coached for six head football coaches, ranks among the longest of any UM athletics figure.

During his time working with the Hurricanes’ offensive line, Kehoe has produced seven players (Eric Winston in 2005, Brett Romberg in 2002, Bryant McKinnie in 2001, Joaquin Gonzalez in 2000, Richard Mercier in 1999, K.C. Jones in 1996 and Leon Searcy in 1991) who received first-team All-America honors. In addition, 23 more of his protégés went on to play professionally, including 19 all-conference honorees, one Outland Trophy winner and the 2002 Rimington Award winner.

Kehoe was on the staff for all five of UM’s national championship teams, two Heisman Trophy winners and eight of the Hurricanes’ nine 1,000-yard rushers rushed behind the blocking of Kehoe’s offensive linemen. His 2000 and 2001 units are often considered among the highest-performing offensive lines in recent college football history, and his 2002 unit was widely considered the nation’s finest by many observers.

A native of Conshohocken, Pa., Kehoe served instrumental in the rebirth of Miami football, playing on the 1979 and 1980 teams that returned UM to national prominence with a victory in the 1980 Peach Bowl (UM’s first bowl win since 1966). After his playing days ended, Kehoe stayed at UM as a student assistant coach in 1981 and a graduate assistant coach from 1982-84. He ascended to full-time status in 1985 and worked with the offensive line through the 2005 season. From 1992-94, Kehoe also tutored tight ends in addition to his duties with the offensive line.

As a coach, Kehoe went to 22 bowl games with the Hurricanes and tutored some of the greatest players in Miami history including Leon Searcy, Mike Sullivan, Jones, Mercier, McKinnie, Gonzalez, Romberg and Vernon Carey. A contemporary of legendary UM quarterback Jim Kelly, Kehoe has developed offensive lines that have protected many of the Hurricaenes’ outstanding quarterbacks including Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta, Ken Dorsey and Jacory Harris.

Kehoe, 56, is working for his sixth Miami head coach, spanning the likes of Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis, Larry Coker and now Al Golden. Kehoe even served as UM’s interim head coach for 19 days during the transition from the Erickson to Davis era in 1995. In addition to his coaching accomplishments, Kehoe was inducted into the University of Miami Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Laney J.C. Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.

Kehoe earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Miami and an associate’s degree in general studies from Laney Junior College in 1979.