Luke Barker heads into his sixth season on the IUP coaching staff in 2020. In addition to serving as the running backs and tight ends coach since 2015, he was given the Assistant Head Coach title prior to the 2018 season and is IUP's recruiting coordinator.Â
Barker has become a highly respected young coach during his time with the Crimson Hawks, coaching a group of running backs and tight ends that are some of the best in Super Region One while helping one of the top ground games in Division II.Â
Barker has coached an alL-region or All-PSAC West player each year since 2015 and has been responsible for 11 combined All-PSAC West selections during those same five seasons.
Running back Justice Evans is a three-time All-PSAC selection (2017-19) who enters his senior season 12th on IUP's all-time rushing list with 2,443 yards. Barker also helped Evans to PSAC West Freshman of the Year honors in 2017 after he rushed for 1,011 yards with a 6.6 average. Barker has seen a combined seven all-conference running back selections since 2015, including two seasons with two backs selected.Â
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Barker's tight end group has also seen individual success and is a huge part of IUP's strong run game. Four different tight ends - Kevin Edwards (2016), Rex Pearce (2017), Grant Smith (2018) and Jacob Watts (2019) - have earned All-PSAC West honors under Barker. In 2018 Smith became the first IUP tight end since Dan Pickens in 2007 to be named to an all-region team.Â
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Since arriving in Indiana in 2015, Barker has helped the Crimson Hawks to incredible success on the field, including a 50-11 (.820) overall record, four NCAA playoff appearances, and a PSAC championship, national semifinal berth and No. 1 Division II ranking in 2017.Â
in 2015 Barker oversaw a running back group and helped the IUP offense transition from a pro style to a modern spread system. Running back Chris Temple earned all-region and all-league honors as he rushed for 1,212 yards and 17 touchdowns in just 10 games. He helped IUP break a program record by averaging 293.6 rushing yards per game.Â
IUP broke seven more offensive team records during the 2016 and 2017 playoff seasons, including rushing touchdowns (48), total offense average (489.6), total points (555), scoring average (46.2), and total touchdowns (77) in 2016, and total offense (6375) and first downs (335) in 2017.Â
Five different running backs have combined for 26 100-yard rushing games since 2015, including four games that eclipsed the 200-yard mark.Â
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Barker has also been apart of USA Football for more than five years. In December 2017, Barker was selected as an assistant coach for the 2018 U.S. Under-16 National Team in International Bowl IX. He was the U.S. team's offensive coordinator and running backs coach in a 50-0 win over Mexico.Â
He served as the head coach for the Under-14 Pride in the Middle School Bowl Game Series in June 2018 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.Â
He returned to the international stage to coach the running backs for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team for International Bowl X in January 2019.
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Barker came to IUP from West Virginia Wesleyan out of the Division II Mountain East Conference. He spent two seasons with the Bobcats, coaching the running backs and heading up the special teams under head coach George Shehl.Â
During his two years at WVW, Barker worked with young running back Michael Anderson, who ran for a combined 1,156 yards and seven touchdowns during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Anderson also was a reliable receiving threat out of the backfield, catching 42 passes for 416 yards in 2014.
Prior to WVW, Barker spent two seasons as an offensive student assistant at the University of Charleston (W. Va.). During his time there, he worked with both the running backs and offensive line, while also assisting in film breakdown.
The Cincinnati native played collegiately at Charleston before becoming a student assistant. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2012.
Updated June 11, 2020
