National Football League stalwart Ronald McKinnon enters his ninth season as the linebackers coach for the Golden Bears, concentrating on the inside linebackers. He brings a wealth of experience in as former player, as well as in coaching and business experience. Last season, he was instrumental in developing 2018 All-American and SIAC Defensive Player of the Year Austin Stephens.
McKinnon, was a four-year starter for the University of North Alabama from 1992-95 and one of the most honored athletes in NCAA Division II football history. A four-time, first-team All-Gulf South Conference selection, McKinnon is one of a handful that has been named a consensus All-American three times in NCAA Division II history. McKinnon was selected the winner of the 1995 Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, as the National Player of the Year and is the only defensive player ever to win the award. He helped lead UNA to a combined 48-5-1 record during his career, winning three straight Gulf South Conference championships and three straight NCAA Division II National Championships.
He parlayed his collegiate success into a NFL opportunity. McKinnon signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals following his senior season and spent 10 seasons in professional football. McKinnon played in 157 NFL games, playing for the Cardinals from 1996-2004 and one season with the New Orleans Saints. He finished his professional career with more than 1,000 tackles, 12 sacks and 10 interceptions.
Coach McKinnon closed his career as the leading tackler at the University of North Alabama and in Gulf South Conference history; with 621 total stops and 407 primary stops. He had 29 career tackles-for-loss, seven sacks, 11 interceptions and recovered five fumbles. As a senior he had 139 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss, four interceptions and four sacks. He was named to the Gulf South Conference “Team of the Quarter Century” for 1971-95, was selected the “Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Quarter Century” for 1971-95 and was named to the NCAA Division II “Team of the Quarter Century” for 1973-97. McKinnon was selected for the 50th Anniversary University of North Alabama Football Team for 1949-98, the Gulf South Conference Team of the 1990s and was named by the Alabama Sports Writers Association State Professional Athlete of the Year for 1998.
As a coach at Miles, McKinnon has helped the program to previously unforeseen success. He has been a part of a staff that has won two Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and the school’s first Division II playoff appearance. In 2017, he coached All-SIAC performer Austin Stephens.
McKinnon is a native of Elba, Alabama and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies from the University of North Alabama in 1995. McKinnon was one of the elite athletes in the history of the state to be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. He is married (LaShana) and they have four children, Guiliana, Raven, Rya and Rocky.
