When Robi Coker walks down the halls of the Townsley Law Arena at McNeese State University, he admires the young staff that he gets to work with. Coker is an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at McNeese, a role that he has played time and time again in his tenure in the sports business.
He watches his peers begin their journey on the winding road of coaching, thinking about where he started, reminiscing on how thankful he is for his life and the opportunities that led him to today.
“I reckon I’m the old guy on staff now,” Coker laughed. “I think we balance each other out… It has been a perfect mesh, and we’ve found our roles and rhythm together.”
Coker wasn’t always the “old dog” on staff, though. In 2006, Coker was the 25-year-old video coordinator at Ole Miss, a job he took when no one else would, hoping that being in the SEC would give him his big break.
At Ole Miss, for the first three months on the job, he lived in a house and shared an office with Bill Armstrong and Torrey Ward, who became two of his best friends. Three young men, with that same bright-eyed optimism that Coker sees today in his staff, sitting in an office together, unknowing of where their careers would take them.
“We thought we’d made it and that it was the greatest thing ever,” Coker said. “It was so much energy, and we were so young and dumb and happy to be there… It really reminds me of this staff.”
Before Ole Miss, Coker served as a manager at Jacksonville State, where he attended college. He met and made connections with Armstrong and Ward at Jacksonville State, as well as Michael White, who is now the head coach at Georgia.
Through these relationships and connections, Coker would climb the career ladder, staying at Ole Miss for five years until moving back to Alabama, his home state. From 2011-2025, Coker coached high school, leading Plainview High School to four state championship titles and Fort Payne High School to a 46-13 record in two seasons there.
One weekend, late in March 2025, Coker was faced with a big decision. Armstrong just got the job at McNeese and asked Coker to be his right-hand man.
He talked with his wife, Melissa, and they decided to sleep on it. Early the next morning, as they both prepared their morning cups of coffee, Melissa said “hey, call Bill and tell him we’re in.”
Within the next month, Coker moved to Lake Charles and jumped right into building a roster – watching one of his best friends live out a life-long dream of leading a Division One college team and thinking about the time the two of them were at the bottom of the totem pole.
“It’s because of those memories and those relationships that we developed in that time of our lives,” Coker said. “Because of that trust… it was easy for us to make the decision.”
Today, the Cowboys are repping a 10-2 overall record, with Armstrong, Coker and the rest of their staff at the helm. Coker, who has been nicknamed “Structure” by returning senior DJ Richards, does most of the weekly planning for the team.
“We try to maximize our work in the minimum hours, so a lot of planning goes into it,” Coker added. “Obviously nothing’s ever perfect, and we tweak it as the week goes along, but we try to do a good job of not wasting our guys’ time.”
Coker is also the primary offensive coach, something he takes pride in. During their film sessions, Coker shows the team clips of how opponents typically stop scoring and explains how to implement that into their game plan.
He said that his prep usually involves watching the last five games a team plays, which is anywhere from five to 10 hours of film. Coker picks out footage showing specific actions or plays they run successfully and puts one to three new looks into other potential advantages.
“You want to be able to play your style of basketball and do the things you do,” Coker added. “We want to do a great job of getting the ball, getting a stop, getting a rebound, and running transition… when our offense is clicking, when our defense is clicking… that’s how we want to play.”
After film, the team heads into practice. Coker said that everyone on staff puts in maximum effort to ensure that practices are productive and work toward their goals.
“We take pride in our practices and our preparation,” he said. “We have success because we compete and treat practice as important as it is.”
This sense of importance expands to every part of what they do. The staff has implemented an open door policy, encouraging questions and giving everyone an opportunity to have a voice. Coker said that accessibility and trust is an essential part of any team, and that’s the environment they strive to create.
Coker credits Armstrong for the team’s strength, explaining that he has built a place that allows people to be themselves.
“The staff and team will take on the personality of the head coach because he's the one that sets the standard,” Coker added. “Bill is going to work extremely hard but also does a phenomenal job of keeping the main thing the main thing… He’s got that personality that always brings the best out of people, and people always respond to him and enjoy his company.”
That is a testament to 20 years of friendship, Coker explained. He said that they balance each other out perfectly, which is allowing them to reach their ultimate goal – winning basketball games.
Coker loves being a part of the puzzle and the evolving process of building a program and fostering relationships. One of his favorite parts of his job is showing recruits what he thinks they could accomplish and how he can help them reach their own goals.
“Whether it’s the trainer, the GA, the manager, the athletic department… everybody is pulling together in one direction and chasing greatness,” Coker said. “It’s been a lot of fun to be back in that environment.”
He also thanks the Lake Charles community for making their transition seamless. The endless support they’ve received is another factor in their success so far.
“The vision of 15 to 30 people in this town to realize that we can change Southwest Louisiana if we make winning basketball games a priority… it’s been fun to step into that and join that effort,” Coker said.
Coker grew up in a small town in northeast Alabama. He went to Crossville High School and followed his childhood best friend into college to be a pharmacist. Quickly realizing, after taking his first college chemistry course that pharmacy was not his passion, Coker was offered an opportunity to coach a seventh grade team at his alma mater.
From Crossville High School to McNeese, Coker’s journey has brought him everlasting joy that he wouldn’t trade for the world.
“It’s so crazy the journey the Lord has taken me on, and you look at how he directed my steps and the things that had to fall in place for it to happen,” he said. “It’s been such a rewarding life… I’m so thankful I sucked at chemistry.”
Coker and Melissa have three kids – Lily Kate, Rob and Addie. Family is the most important thing in Coker’s life. He is thankful every day that he has their love and support, which has made all of this possible.
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