Football
Criner, Calin
Calin Criner
- Title:
- Defensive Graduate Assistant
Calin Criner spent two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Boise State, culminating with a Mountain West Championship in 2023.
His father, Mark, is a former player at Boise State (1990 graduate) and most recently an assistant coach with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL, which suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy due to the Covid-19 virus. The long-time college coach previously had tenures at Idaho, Portland State, Utah State, Minnesota, Eastern Michigan, Cincinnati, Middle Tennessee State, Lamar, and Colorado State Pueblo, as well as with the Las Vegas Outlaws in a previous stint in the XFL.
Calin is the grandson of former Boise State University head football coach Jim Criner (1976-82), who guided the Broncos to the 1980 NCAA Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) title. He was 59-21-1 overall and 34-12 in the Big Sky at BSU, and was later head coach at Iowa State (1983-86). Calin lived with Rocky Mountain head coach Scott Criner, who is Mark’s cousin. Calin also has twin siblings, Jackson and Brooklyn. Nickname is “Cal.” Name is pronounced “cal-uhn” “cry-nur.”
A two-time team captain at Eastern Washington, Criner tallied nine interceptions, 273 tackles (eight for loss), 20 passes broken up, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his 54-game career (32 as a starter). His number of games played ties for the third-most in EWU history. Criner is tied for 11th in interceptions and pass break ups, and he places 15th on the all-time tackles leaderboard. He had five performances in his career with at least 10 tackles. Criner continued the legacy of wearing the No. 4 jersey for the Eagle Football team. Since the 2008 season when senior Jason Belford had the number, the coaching staff has selected a leader on defense to wear the jersey. It symbolizes the defensive player who most embodies the characteristics of defense at Eastern -- grit, toughness, effort, leadership and academic success.
His father, Mark, is a former player at Boise State (1990 graduate) and most recently an assistant coach with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL, which suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy due to the Covid-19 virus. The long-time college coach previously had tenures at Idaho, Portland State, Utah State, Minnesota, Eastern Michigan, Cincinnati, Middle Tennessee State, Lamar, and Colorado State Pueblo, as well as with the Las Vegas Outlaws in a previous stint in the XFL.
Calin is the grandson of former Boise State University head football coach Jim Criner (1976-82), who guided the Broncos to the 1980 NCAA Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) title. He was 59-21-1 overall and 34-12 in the Big Sky at BSU, and was later head coach at Iowa State (1983-86). Calin lived with Rocky Mountain head coach Scott Criner, who is Mark’s cousin. Calin also has twin siblings, Jackson and Brooklyn. Nickname is “Cal.” Name is pronounced “cal-uhn” “cry-nur.”
A two-time team captain at Eastern Washington, Criner tallied nine interceptions, 273 tackles (eight for loss), 20 passes broken up, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his 54-game career (32 as a starter). His number of games played ties for the third-most in EWU history. Criner is tied for 11th in interceptions and pass break ups, and he places 15th on the all-time tackles leaderboard. He had five performances in his career with at least 10 tackles. Criner continued the legacy of wearing the No. 4 jersey for the Eagle Football team. Since the 2008 season when senior Jason Belford had the number, the coaching staff has selected a leader on defense to wear the jersey. It symbolizes the defensive player who most embodies the characteristics of defense at Eastern -- grit, toughness, effort, leadership and academic success.
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