Larry Blakeney was born September 21, 1947, in Birmingham, Alabama, but grew up in Gordo where he played football, baseball and basketball at Gordo High School.

Blakeney was the first sophomore to start at quarterback for Ralph Jordan at Auburn. A three-year letterman, he started eight games in 1966, scoring five touchdowns in his first four games. Blakeney lost the starting job in 1967, however, and moved to the defensive backfield in 1968.

He missed the entire season with a shoulder injury, but resumed play in 1969 as Auburn posted a 9-3 record. Blakeney graduated in 1970 with a Bachelors degree in business administration. He also lettered twice in baseball in 1968 and 1969.

In the fall of 1970, Blakeney became the head football coach at Southern Academy for two seasons. His teams went 19-5 and lost in the 1971 AISA Championship game. He moved to Walker High School in 1972 where, in three seasons his teams finished with a 17-11-2 record.

Blackeney would accept the head football coaching position at Vestavia Hills High School in 1975. In two seasons at the helm his teams went 14-8. He compiled a 50-24-2 record as a high school football coach before moving into the college ranks in 1977.

He was hired at Auburn in 1977 as the offensive line coach. In 1979, he was the tight end and wide receivers coach for two years and then just wide receivers from 1981 through the 1989 football season.

In 1990, Larry Blakeney became the head football coach at Troy State University. He took over a program that had won two National Championships the previous decade, but were 13-17 the previous three years.

He was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and also inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. In the spring of 2011, Troy University honored Blakeney by naming the football playing surface Larry Blakeney Field.