Western New Mexico University Athletics

Coach Chris Buckner recently finished up his first season with the Mustangs as the offensive coordinator. He enters his second year at WNMU in 2017. The Mustang offense averaged 26.5 points, 117.5 rushing yards and 290.5 passing yards per game during the 2016 campaign. Javia Hall passed for 2,939 yards and 24 touchdowns, while Xavier Ayers earned Lone Star Conference Receiver of the Year accolades after catching 80 passes for 1,025 yards and nine touchdowns. DeAndre Williams led the ground attack going for 623 yards on 132 carries and six scores. The WNMU offense with Buckner at the helm showed that they could compete with any team in the LSC. The Mustangs scored 44 points in a win against Oklahoma Panhandle State and added a 68-point performance in a win over UT Permian Basin. Other top scores included 41 points against Tarleton State, 24 points against Texas A&M-Commerce and 30 points versus West Texas A&M. The Mustangs finished third in the conference and 28th nationally in passing offense per game (290), sixth in passing yards per completion (12.22), seventh in rushing offense per game (117), seventh in scoring offense (26.5), fourth in time of possession (29:49) and fifth in total offense (407).


Coach Buckner joined the WNMU football staff in 2016 after spending several years as a Division I assistant coach and player.

Buckner spent the past two seasons at North Carolina Central University where he was in charge of wide receivers/recruiting coordinator. He has familiarity with the area having played college football at New Mexico State University.
While at NCCU he helped lead the team to the No. 2 passing offense during the 2014 season in which the team was the MEAC Champions posting a 7-5 record. He coached First-Team MEAC wide receiver Adrian Wilkins and Second-Team MEAC wide receiver Quentin Atkinson. He earned the No. 1 recruiting class in Black Colleges (HBCU- Boxtorow NCAA Poll 2015). The team made it back-to-back MEAC Championships going 8-3 to claim the title in 2015.
Before NCCU, Buckner served as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Savannah State University, where he was responsible for coordinating and developing the passing game strategy for the offense during the 2013 campaign.

He spent two seasons (2011-12) as the wide receivers/tight ends coach at Jackson State University, after working as a graduate assistant coach at JSU in 2010. In 2011, Jackson State boasted the most prolific offense in the nation, topping the NCAA Division I-FCS ranks with an average of 490 yards of total offense per game, including 348 yards through the air. In 2012, Buckner coached the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, JSU wide receiver Rico Richardson, who went on to play in the NFL.

A native of Arlington, Texas, Buckner played both wide receiver (2006-07) and defensive back (2008-09) at New Mexico State University.  He graduated from NMSU in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

In May 2010, he went through OTAs with the Dallas Cowboys, and then moved on to Jackson State to begin his coaching career.