Justin Carrigan enters his fourth year as the Head Coach at UT Permian Basin. Carrigan was named the first head coach in program history on January 9, 2015.
2018 was another year of improvement for the Falcons under Coach Carrigan. After some close losses early in the season, the team broke through with a come-from-behind 21-20 win over Western New Mexico with 14-unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The team would pick up their second win of the season against Humboldt State in which freshman quarterback Taylor Null threw for a school-record 430 passing yards in just his fifth start. As a team the Falcons allowed 144 less points and nearly 800 less yards on defense, while Null set team records in touchdown passes (16) and yards (2,145).
After the season, linebacker Chris Hoad was named a D2CCA All-Super Region 4 First Team member, Lone Star Conference Linebacker of the Year and All-Conference First Team while finishing third in Division II in tackles with 133. Null, Kristian Brown, Kyle McBride and Keegan Gray were Lone Star Conference Honorable Mentions.
UT Permian Basins' second season saw the team earn its first Lone Star Conference victory when the Falcons went on the road and earned a 41-32 win at Western New Mexico in Silver City, N.M. UTPB scored 24 points in the second quarter and 27 straight points overall in the come-from-behind victory over the Mustangs.
Later in the season UTPB dominated the ground game in the team's first ever neutral site contest, running for 373 yards on 63 attempts, averaging 5.9 yards per carry with four touchdowns as Brandon Infiesto ran for 175 yards and two scores on 18 carries, and Marquis Simmons carried the ball 12 time for a touchdown and 110 yards.
John O'Kelley was named the Lone Star Conference freshman of the year. The defensive end appeared in all 11 games, recording 38 total tackles, 25 of them solo. He had 9.5 tackles for loss, averaging 5.5 yards on each of those tackles. He led the Falcons with 5.5 sacks on the season for 29 yards, tied for the team lead with three forced fumbles, and tied for the NCAA lead with four total blocked kicks on the year. Defensive lineman Frank Seiuli earned second team all-conference honors, while linebacker Chris Hoad, offensive lineman Hunter Bowers, fullback/defensive end Marquis Allison, linebacker Keegan Gray and defensive lineman Ieti Manu were named honorable mention.
In the program's first year of competition, the Falcons kicked off their inaugural season with a 27-6 win against Sul Ross at Ratliff Stadium in front of 13,856 fans. UTPB scored the first 20 points of the game in the 21-point victory over the Lobos.
UTPB scored a season-high 49 points the next week in a 15-point, 49-34 win at home against Arizona Christian that saw the Falcon offense break out for 495 total yards of offense, including 368 passing yards and three touchdowns by QB Kameron Mathis and 87 yards and a touchdown by running back Brandon Infiesto.
Offensive lineman Corin Brooks, defensive linemen Frank Seiuli and Jared Thames, and kicker Bailey Giffen earned end of year honorable mention all-conference honors.
Carrigan came to UTPB having spending five years as an assistant at Tarleton State, including his last three seasons as offensive coordinator.
The Texans scored 43.7 points per game in his final season, averaging 522.8 yards of offense in 10 games.
TSU finished above .500 in the Lone Star Conference in each of his three seasons, including an LSC Championship after a 5-1 conference season in 2013.
Carrigan started at Tarleton State in 2010 as the program's quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. He moved to wide receivers coach before the 2011 season before taking over the offense for his last three years.
Prior to his five-year stint at TSU, he spent a year at Texas-El Paso working with the Miners' passing game.
Before his season at UTEP, Carrigan started his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2005 at Midwestern State. He took on duties as wide receivers coach and strength and conditioning for nine varsity teams in 2007. A season later he was promoted to passing game coordinator and helped Midwestern State's offense average 549.4 yards per game in 2007.
Carrigan graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 2003 from Angelo State where he was a two-time All-LSC safety. A three-year starter in the secondary, he was all-conference in 2000 & 2001 and was a team captain in 2002. He earned his master's degree in sports administration from Midwestern State in 2009.
