SAN ANTONIO — Larry Coker announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as UTSA's head coach.

Coker, 67, was 26-32 in five seasons.

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UTSA got the go-ahead to start a football program in 2008, and the university hired Coker in March 2009.

The Roadrunners kicked off their inaugural season in 2011.

UTSA went 4-6 in the first year as a Football Championship Subdivision independent before starting a two-year transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision.

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The Roadrunners finished 8-4 in 2012 and 7-5 in 2013. The seven wins against FBS competition in 2013, the school's first in Conference USA, were a record for a Year 3 start-up program.

UTSA fell on hard times the past two years, posting records of 4-8 and 3-9.

"UTSA has been a very special place to me and I will be forever grateful for the experience," Coker said. "The future of UTSA football is very bright and I look forward to watching the Roadrunners' success in the future."

UTSA has been a very special place to me. I look forward to a bright future for Roadrunner Football. #birdsup #UTSA — Larry Coker (@LarryCoker) January 6, 2016

"I want to thank Larry for taking on the huge challenge of starting up this football program," Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey said. "It required an incredible amount of hard work and dedication over the past seven years. There were a lot of challenges and unknowns, but Larry was able to represent the university and the city of San Antonio in a first-class manner.

Hickey will hold a press conference at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to address Coker's departure.

UTSA will begin an immediate national search for a new coach.

jbriggs@express-news.net

Twitter: @JerryBriggs