Meet Arizona's Alonzo Carter: College football's only coach with a platinum record

Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter and his legendary career can't be touched. 

Before the longtime assistant broke his way into football, he was a star in the world of pop culture and hip hop. Carter's journey was featured on Saturday's ESPN College GameDay and it's clear to say he's truly one-of-one. 

“Name me one coach in the country that has a ten-time platinum album in the office,” Carter told Jen Lada of ESPN while showing off M.C. Hammer's "Let's Get It Started" album in his office in Tucson. 

How did Carter get to this point?

The story starts in Oakland, California in the mid-80s. An up-and-coming artist named M.C. Hammer burst onto the scene with a new wave of energy, mixing rap with pop electronica. When Carter found out this local star was performing in the Bay Area, he and his crew showed up without warning to battle Hammer's crew of dancers.

Alonzo Carter spends his time now as Arizona's RB coach, but from 1988-1995 he was hip hop icon MC Hammer's backup dancer and lead choreographer 🔥@JenLada has more: pic.twitter.com/RHfxJBRvkk

The result was a new style coming to life that mixed fraternity stepping with hip hop moves. "You don't want none of these problems," Carter recalled about the takeover. "So we clear the floor out, and we have this big old battle us for against these guys" That was the point M.C. Hammer realized it was time to re-position his efforts and invited Carter and his crew to join him for tour events and music videos. 

"Coach Zo and his team, they understood the energy level," Hammer said. 

"Hammer Time" to the NFL: 90's culture was the peak

The rest is history from that point on. Carter was appointed lead backup dancer and choreographer for the hip-hop legend. A role that took him to 1995, when he transitioned into coaching football. For Carter, there were a lot of similarities between instructing the right move on stage and on the field. Alonzo handled the choreography and rode the success during Hammer's top albums. The "typewriter" dance from Hammer even evolved into Deion Sanders' famous touchdown shuffle. All of the original work traced back to Carter's roots.    

"He's one of the best entertainers that has ever lived," Sanders said about Hammer. The Colorado Buffaloes coach admittedly got his style as a carbon copy from the 90's hot track.   

Carter is in his second year at Arizona. His head coaching experience includes a 129-69-3 record with 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.  

Arizona hits the road to face Colorado on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, FS1). We'll see which Big 12 team is "2 Legit 2 Quit" in the final month of the season. 

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