Keith Abu Bhonapha (born May 12, 1980) is an American football coach who is currently the assistant head coach and running backs coach at Michigan State University. He played college football at Hawaii, where also began his coaching career. He has also spent time as an assistant at University of Washington
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Assistant head coach & running backs coach |
| Team | Michigan State |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | May 12, 1980 Oakland, California |
| Playing career | |
| 1999–2002 | Hawaii |
| Position(s) | Defensive back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2003–2005 | Hawaii (GA) |
| 2009–2010 | Boise State (RB) |
| 2011–2013 | Boise State (RB/RC) |
| 2014–2019 | Washington (RB/RC) |
| 2020 | Washington (RB) |
| 2021 | Washington (ST/RB) |
| 2022 | Boise State (AHC/RB) |
| 2023 | Oregon State (AHC/RB) |
| 2024–present | Michigan State (AHC/RB) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2006–2008 | Boise State (director of football ops.) |
Playing career
editBhonapha played college football at Hawaii from 1999 to 2002, where he was a defensive back who was credited with the ability to play both safety and cornerback.[1][2]
Coaching career
editHawaii
editFollowing his playing career, Bhonapha was offered a graduate assistant position at his alma mater Hawaii by head coach June Jones, where he helped to coach the defensive backs with secondary coach Rich Miano.[3] While at Hawaii, he was credited with connecting Davone Bess with Hawaii, as the two had the same high school football coach.[4]
Boise State
editBhonapha was hired as the director of football operations at Boise State in 2006. He was reassigned to running backs coach in 2009 in a series of staff shuffling made by Boise State head coach Chris Petersen.[5] He added the title of recruiting coordinator in 2011.
Washington
editBhonapha followed Petersen to Washington in 2014 to serve as his running backs coach and the program's recruiting coordinator.[6] While he was the recruiting coordinator, he and fellow assistant Ikaika Malloe were credited with rebuilding a recruiting pipeline in the state of Hawaii in part to their connections to the state that ended up with the successful recruitments of players such as Zion Tupuola-Fetui.[7] He was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2021 following the promotion of Bob Gregory to defensive coordinator.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Coaches moving Bhonapha around". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Finding Hawaiian gems is just part of Keith Bhonapha's job". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "For Bhonapha, Hawaii Represents Ohana". Pac-12. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "College coaches talk up Bess". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on: Chris Petersen Realigns Boise State Staff". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Chris Petersen announces hires". ESPN. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Huskies looking to make recruiting inroads in Hawaii". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Lake Promotes Gregory to UW Defensive Coordinator". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 2, 2021.