went from College Park to Lexington, Kentucky; the home of the University of Kentucky. In Claiborne's case, Kentucky was his alma mater. UK had incurred four straight losing seasons and offered Claiborne the position largely to help clean up a program racked by numerous recruiting violations during the tenure of previous head coach Fran Curci. After starting with a winless record of 0–10–1 in 1982, Claiborne reached bowl games in his next two seasons, posting records of 6–5–1 in 1983 and 9–3 in 1984, after which the Wildcats were ranked nineteenth in the final AP poll. The Wildcats' win in the Hall of Fame Classic over Wisconsin was UK's last bowl win for 22 years, until the Music City Bowl victory over Clemson in 2006. Claiborne did not get to another bowl, getting no closer than 5–5–1 in 1986 and 6–5 in 1989, and then retired. Due in part to his role in cleaning up the program's image, he remained in the good graces of Kentucky fans; his eight-season record was . Europe In 1992, Claiborne became the head coach of the Braunschweig Lions, and then German Division II Football team in Germany. During his one-year stay he laid the foundation for an organization, that became a European football powerhouse. Significant achievements Claiborne coached four Academic All-Americans and eighty-seven all-conference academics. Named the nation's Coach of the Year by the Sporting News in 1974. Named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1983. Claiborne's Kentucky team won the College Football Association Academic Achievement Award for the highest graduation rate of 90% in 1989. The University of Kentucky named Claiborne into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1994, Claiborne received the Neyland Trophy, which is presented annually to a coach "who has contributed greatly to intercollegiate athletics" In 1999 the Lexington, Kentucky's chapter of the National Football Foundation was named after Claiborne. Retired with a lifetime record of 179–122–8, ranking him fourth among active college coaches in victories when he retired. Head coaching record See also List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association References External links 1928 births 2000 deaths American football halfbacks Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football players Maryland Terrapins football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches High school basketball coaches in Virginia High school football coaches in Virginia College Football Hall of Fame