football coach at what was then known as Troy State University on December 3, 1990—the school did not become Troy University until 2004. The Troy State Trojans were still an NCAA Division II program, but were approved to transition to NCAA Division I-AA the following season. Blakeney took over a program that had won NCAA Division II Football Championships in 1984 and 1987, but was 13–17 the previous three years. The first full year at Division I-AA, the Trojans made it to the semifinal game and finished 12–1–1, 10–0–1 in the regular season. This marked the first undefeated regular, full season Troy State football and they finished ranked first in the end of season poll by Sports Network. In 1995, the team improved on that record finishing 11–0 in the regular season for the first undefeated and untied season in history. During the eight seasons the team was a member of I-AA football, they made the playoffs seven seasons and won the Southland Conference championship three times and made the playoff semifinals twice. Troy State transitioned to Division I-A in 2001. During that season they defeated three Division I-A schools, including their first win over a BCS conference school, Mississippi State. The transition made Blakeney one of two coaches to ever take a football team from Division II to I-A—the other is UCF's Gene McDowell. In 2004, Troy's first year in the Sun Belt Conference, Blakeney coached his team to one of the biggest victories in the school's and the Sun Belt's history after defeating then #17 ranked Missouri, 24–14, at home, in front of a national audience on ESPN2. He once again coached his team to a victory over a BCS school in 2007 at home, routing Oklahoma State 41–23. Blakeney earned his first bowl game win in 2006, beating the Rice Owls, 41–17, in the New Orleans Bowl. The team won their first Sun Belt Conference title that year. After losing the 2008 New Orleans Bowl in overtime against Southern Miss and the 2010 GMAC Bowl in double-overtime against Central Michigan, Blakeney earned his second bowl victory in the 2010 New Orleans Bowl, defeating Ohio, 48–21. ESPN recognized Blakeney as one of the top five non-AQ recruiting closers in 2009. Blakeney retired at the end of the 2014 season after serving 24 years as head coach at Troy. Personal Blakeney is married to the former Janice Powell and