Alonzo Carter joined the Arizona Football program as Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach in January of 2024. Carter begins his second season with the Wildcats following seven seasons with San Jose State.
Carter joined the Spartans football coaching staff in January 2017, as the running backs coach and added the duties of assistant head coach in 2021. Under Carter’s leadership, running back Kairee Robinson finished second in the Mountain West with a career-high 1,194 rushing yards and led the conference with a career-high 18 rushing touchdowns.
In 2022, Carter helped Robinson rush for a then career-high in yards (752) and touchdowns (10) helping the tailback gain a single-game career best 148 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown against Hawai’i (11/26/22).
The 2020 season was a banner year for the running back group led by Coach Carter helping the Spartans to a Mountain West Championship and No. 24 in the final AP Poll. Tailbacks averaged 4.5 yards per rush, its best average for SJSU in five years, and became one of the first two teams in NCAA Football Bow Subdivision (FBS) history to complete a season without losing a fumble by a ball handler on offense, defense, and special teams.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and up to the start of the delayed season, Carter became a national figure through his West Coast Zoom clinics - weekly sessions involving hundreds of football coaches. The concept originated from the desire to assist minority coaches with upward mobility in the coaching profession, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports and society. Rooted in listening, learning and networking, the then Spartan assistant coach relied on his professional connections and hosted engaging ZOOM calls lasting up to seven hours, either once or twice a week.
For his use of the Zoom technology platform, he received a 2020 Zoomtopia award for innovation - emphasis on diversity: bridging the divide.
In August 2020, he was named to the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches (NCMFC) executive committee. The organization’s goal is to identify and groom coaches of color and create a list of coaching candidates for upward mobility. The NCMFC recognized his organizational commitment through his recruitment of more than 100 new members, providing mentoring, and mock interview sessions with its MVP Advocate Award for 2020. Since August 2020, he assisted 26 NCMFC members that advanced to coaching positions of greater responsibility or visibility.
The Wildcat assistant has 18 years of head coaching experience. His teams compiled a 129-69-3 win-loss record, won 11 league championships, three California Interscholastic Federation (C.I.F.) Oakland Section titles, and six post-season bowl games. He was named league or conference coach of the year in seven of those seasons.
At Cal State Hayward, he and a group of friends answered an audition call, became backup dancers and rap artists, and toured extensively with iconic hip-hop musician MC Hammer. Carter was awarded a multi-platinum record signifying at least 10 million albums sold for “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em.”
Carter was inducted into the African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He holds coaching certifications from the American Football Coaches Association, the California Interscholastic Federation and the California Community College Athletic Association. Carter was selected to participate in the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship program in 2017 with the San Francisco 49ers.
Carter’s coaching career began as McClymonds High’s track and field coach in February 1993. In his three years as the track and field head coach, McClymonds produced eight league and section champions. He also had responsibilities as a varsity assistant football coach.
COACH CARTER FILE
- 247sports. com Mountain West Recruiter of the Year (2019)
- CCCAA Coach of the Year (2012, 14, 15)
- Alameda Contra Costa Area League Coach of the Year (2009)
- Named the East Bay Coach of the Year (2001, 05, 06)
- Contra Costa Hall of Fame, Class of 2026
- Head coach at Contra Costa College (2010-16)
- Contra Costa College posted a 47-27 win-loss mark, captured four conference championships and won two bowl games under Carter
- Head coach at Berkely High in Berkely, Calif. (2007-09)
- Head coach at McClymonds High in Oakland, Calif (1999-06)
- Won four league championships and three Oakland Section titles in eight seasons
PERSONAL
- The 2016 California State University East Bay graduate majored in African American Studies.
- When the school was known as Cal State Hayward, he was a member of the Pioneers’ football and track and field teams.
- Alonzo Carter Sr. is the father of four children: Alonzo Carter II, Alona Carter, Anthony Carter, and Kennedie Carter
