| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
March 30, 1940 Lurton, Arkansas |
| Alma mater | Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo |
| Playing career | |
| 1960–1961 | Cal Poly, San Luis Opispo |
| Position(s) | Linebacker, fullback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1967–1968 | Utah (OL) |
| 1969 | Hayward State (DC) |
| 1970–1971 | California (DB) |
| 1972 | BYU (assistant) |
| 1973–1974 | UCLA (OL) |
| 1975 | UCLA (LB) |
| 1976–1982 | Boise State |
| 1983–1986 | Iowa State |
| 1995–2000 | Scottish Claymores |
| 2001 | Las Vegas Outlaws |
| 2012 | Amiens Spartiates |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 76–46–3 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 NCAA Division I-AA (1980) 2 Big Sky (1977, 1980) 1 Casque de Diamant 1st division of France (2012) |
|
Jim Criner (born March 30, 1940) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Boise State University from 1976 to 1982 and at Iowa State University from 1983 to 1986, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 76–46–3 (.620). Criner was also the head coach of the NFL Europe's Scottish Claymores from 1995 to 2000, and the short-lived XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws in 2001. His 1980 Boise State team won the NCAA Division I-AA Championship and his Scottish Claymores squad won World Bowl IV in 1996. Criner was later a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL under head coach Dick Vermeil, whom he assisted at UCLA in the mid-1970s.
Born in Lurton, Arkansas, Criner was a four-sport athlete in California at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal. He attended Palo Verde Junior College where he was a junior college All-American at linebacker, then transferred to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, where he was an All-American at linebacker, and played fullback as well.