LSU’s Larry Porter became the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision’s eighth African-American head coach when he was named at Memphis on Sunday.

With Porter’s appointment, there are currently 17 ethnic minority head football coaches in Division I (10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision and seven in the Football Championship Subdivision).

For the past five seasons, Porter has coached running backs at LSU in addition to serving as assistant head coach and chief recruiter for the Tigers. Before joining LSU in 2005, he was an assistant at Oklahoma State and also formerly coached at Arkansas State.

Porter is a graduate of the NCAA Advanced Coaches Academy (2004), NCAA Expert Coaches Academy (2007) and the NCAA Champions Forum (2009), three professional-development programs aimed at assisting ethnic minority football coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement and networking opportunities. The NCAA also offers the Future Coaches Academy, which is designed for individuals who have recently completed their collegiate eligibility and have a desire to enter the college football coaching profession.

Porter, the 14th participant of one of the NCAA Coaches Academies and Forums to be selected as a Division I head football coach, was a standout running back at Memphis. A four-year letter-winner for the Tigers from 1990 to 1993, he served as co-captain as a senior.