Summary: In 1983, with no coaching experience, Waynesboro, Virginia native Charlie Coiner had big dreams and made a bold move by approaching a new, now national, coaching figure. His timing was perfect. In 1983, Charlie Coiner served as a graduate assistant at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Mack Brown, later Head Coach at the University of Texas, had just begun his first head-coaching job. Coiner stayed for five years—and proved his worth. Thereafter, Coiner rode the coaching carousel. After Appalachian, Coiner worked on offense, defense, recruiting, and special teams for Minnesota, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Texas Southern, Louisville, UT Chattanooga, LSU, and again at Texas Southern. Coiner coached for the NFL’s Chicago Bears (Special Teams, 2001-05) and Buffalo Bills (Tight Ends, 2006-09). During this tenure with the Bills, he helped lead a young group of tight ends to career numbers while they also contributed as blockers for a rushing attack that ranked fifth in the AFC. In 2011, Coiner moved to Austin, Texas, and took a break from coaching. He then began using the unusual time he had away from the game, as Coiner says, “to become a better coach.” Coiner began digitally converting dozens of playbooks in order to find plays more quickly once he returned to coaching and First Down Playbook was born.
