Mo Latimore - Football Coach - Kansas State University Athletics

Mo Latimore

Title:
Interior Defensive Line
Email:
mlatimore@kstatesports.com
Phone:
(785) 532-5876

The Latimore File

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Year at K-State: 35th
Date of Birth: July 29, 1949
Hometown: Byron, Ga.
Spouse: D'Anne
Children: M.L., Mallory
Grandchildren: Talor and Camden

EDUCATION

Kansas State (1976)
Bachelor's in Physical Education

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

Hutchinson CC, Guard (1968-69)
K-State, Guard (1970-71)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1976-77     K-State (Offensive Graduate Assistant)
1978-79     K-State (Offensive Line)
1980          K-State (Defensive Ends)
1981          K-State (Outside Linebackers)
1982          K-State (Defensive Ends)
1983-85     K-State (Asst. HC/Defensive Ends)
1986-88     UTEP (Defensive Line)
1989-93     Missouri (Defensive Line)
1994-2018 K-State (Defensive Line)

BOWL EXPERIENCE

1982 Independence Bowl (K-State)
1988 Independence Bowl (UTEP)
1994 Aloha Bowl (K-State)
1995 Holiday Bowl (K-State)
1997 Cotton Bowl (K-State)
1997 Fiesta Bowl (K-State)
1998 Alamo Bowl (K-State)
1999 Holiday Bowl (K-State)
2001 Cotton Bowl (K-State)
2001 Insight.com Bowl (K-State)
2002 Holiday Bowl (K-State)
2004 Fiesta Bowl (K-State)
2006 Texas Bowl (K-State)
2010 Pinstripe Bowl (K-State)
2012 Cotton Bowl (K-State)
2013 Fiesta Bowl (K-State)
2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (K-State)
2015 Alamo Bowl (K-State)
2016 Liberty Bowl (K-State)
2016 Texas Bowl (K-State)
2017 Cactus Bowl (K-State)

A former All-America lineman for the Wildcats in the 1970s, interior defensive line coach Mo Latimore is the longest-tenured assistant coach in the country as he enters his 35th season at Kansas State in 2018.

Latimore has been a fixture at Kansas State since returning to his alma mater in 1994 following a five-year stint at Missouri. He has played an integral role in Kansas State’s ascent to one of the nation’s elite programs, helping the Wildcats to 13 seasons of nine or more wins and 19 bowl games. He has also been a big reason for K-State’s strong presence on defense and has mentored lines that helped the Wildcats rank among the nation’s top 10 in total defense several times, including seven top-five rankings (1995, 1997-2002).

During the last 21 seasons, Latimore has coached five All-Americans, including first-team honorees Tim Colston (1995), Mario Fatafehi (2000) and Will Geary (2017), two conference Defensive Newcomers of the Year (Fatafehi in 1999 and Tank Reese in 2001) and one conference Defensive Player of the Year (Colston in 1995).

Latimore has tutored an All-Big 12 defensive tackle each of the last seven seasons, including Geary, who became the first Wildcat interior defensive lineman since 1983 to earn three-straight first team all-conference honors. Geary totaled 45 tackles in 2015 – the most by a K-State defensive tackle since 2005 – while he repeated that mark in 2016 and had 44 as a senior in 2017, a season that featured career highs in tackles for loss (9.0) and sacks (4.5). Under Latimore’s leadership, Geary finished his walk-on-to-All-American career with 25.0 TFLs and 164 tackles to rank the fourth and 12th in K-State history among Wildcat interior defensive linemen, respectively.

Playing alongside Geary for a second-straight season, 13-game starter Trey Dishon had 21 tackles, 4.0 TFLs, a sack and three pass breakups en route to Honorable Mention All-Big 12 accolades. That came a year after he totaled 4.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks to earn Big 12 All-Freshman team honors from Athlon.

Thanks to the work by Latimore, Geary and Dishon, K-State has ranked in the top-15 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game in each of the last two seasons as the Wildcats were 13th in 2017 (117.7 yards per game) and 11th in 2016 (115.0 yards per game).

In 2015, the duo of Geary and three-time All-Big 12 selection Travis Britz – now a Defensive GA for the Wildcats – combined for 86 tackles on the year, the most by two Wildcat interior defensive linemen since 2003. Britz went on to earn second-team honors from the league’s coaches thanks to a banner year under Latimore, posting career highs in tackles (41), tackles for loss (11.0) and sacks (4.0). He finished 17th in the Big 12 overall but third among defensive tackles in TFLs.

Britz’s outstanding senior campaign came after he started 10 games as a junior in 2014 before an injury sidelined him the rest of the year. Needing to replace the veteran Britz, Latimore tutored and plugged in the former walk-on in Geary, and the line didn’t skip a beat as it helped the Wildcat defense rank second in the conference in scoring defense and third in both total and red zone defense.

In addition to Britz, Geary and Dishon, six other Wildcat defenders have earned all-conference honors under Latimore in the last 12 seasons, including Vai Lutui, Ray Kibble, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, Ian Campbell, Eric Childs and Brandon Harold.

Britz was a 13-game starter in 2013 that made 37 tackles, and he was the national leader with four blocked kicks. Britz followed in Lutui’s footsteps, who was also a 13-game starter the year prior that helped K-State rank first in the Big 12 in scoring defense, second in rushing defense and win the Big 12 title for the second time in school history.

Kibble was a mainstay in the middle in 2011 and a big part of K-State’s 10-win season and berth in the Cotton Bowl. Defensive tackle Raphael Guidry also made a lasting impact on special teams that season by setting a new K-State record with five blocked kicks.

Campbell earned three straight all-conference awards and left Kansas State as one of the program’s best defensive ends, finishing his career ranked fifth in sacks. Harold was one of the top freshmen defenders in the country in 2008 and led all freshmen defensive linemen in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss.

In 2005, protégé Alphonso Moran received Big 12 All-Freshman honors as well as Honorable Mention Freshman All-America accolades from Sporting News, and, in 2006, Campbell was selected as a consensus First Team All-Big 12 performer as well as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Houston Chronicle. Campbell again added first-team honors in 2007, while defensive end Rob Jackson also garnered all-league accolades in 2008.

In his first season back at his alma mater in 1994, Latimore helped guide the Wildcats to the nation’s top ranking in total defense, while also coaching Colston to Third Team All-America honors from the Associated Press. In 1995, Latimore helped Colston become the first defensive lineman in school history to earn First Team All-America accolades and Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Beginning in 1997, Latimore coached at least one all-conference lineman for six consecutive seasons, including three first-team honorees. Fatafehi became the first of two Latimore protégés to earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors. In 2000, he coached a defensive line that saw three of its four starters (Monty Beisel, Chris Johnson and Fatafehi) earn All-Big 12 honors, while Fatafehi was Latimore’s second First Team All-American in six seasons. Also, the line recorded 39 sacks and helped the Cats finish fourth nationally in total defense. Latimore saw his second player, Reese, earn Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors in 2001, as well as first team all-league recognition in both 2001 and 2002.

The 2006 campaign brought even more success as Latimore’s unit was at the forefront of a defense that led the Big 12 in sacks and ranked sixth nationally with 40, including a school-record 11.5 by Campbell. The 2007 line ranked second in the Big 12 in sacks, again led by Campbell.

Latimore began his coaching career at K-State in 1976 under Ellis Rainsberger as a graduate assistant. After 10 years in various roles on the Kansas State staff, Latimore moved to UTEP in 1986 under Bob Stull, where he coached the defensive line for three seasons. He helped the Miners to the school’s first 10-win season in 1988, which culminated in the school’s first bowl game in 21 years – the 1988 Independence Bowl. In 1989, Latimore moved with Stull to Missouri, where he coached until 1993.

One of the top offensive linemen in K-State history, Latimore earned Third Team All-America honors and First Team All-Big Eight accolades while also serving as team captain in 1971. Following his collegiate career, he played in the Senior Bowl and North-South Bowl before being drafted in the seventh round by the New York Jets. He went on to play four years in the Canadian Football League with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Hamilton. Latimore transferred to K-State prior to the 1970 season after two years at Hutchinson Junior College. In 2013, Latimore was inducted into the Hutchinson Quarterback Club Hall of Fame.

A native of Byron, Georgia, Latimore, earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1976. He is married to the former D’Anne Mitchell. The couple has two children, M.L. and Mallory, a daughter-in-law Christy and grandsons Talor and Camden.