Bob Gregory, a member of the UW football coaching staff for the last seven seasons, has been promoted to defensive coordinator, while Rip Rowan, who has spent the last two seasons as a defensive analyst at Washington, has been named defensive line coach, Husky head coach Jimmy Lake announced today.
Additionally, running backs coach Keith Bhonapha will add the role of the Huskies’ special teams coordinator, a position that Gregory had held since he came to the UW in 2014. Lastly, co-defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, who had been in charge of the defensive line, will move to coaching outside linebackers.
“Coach Gregory is the perfect fit to take over the reins as our new defensive coordinator,” said Lake, who was the Huskies’ defensive coordinator himself in 2018 and 2019. “He has extensive experience as a coordinator in this league and has been a big part of our success on that side of the ball the last seven seasons. I’m excited for him to step into this role and look forward to continue building on the momentum we have going.”
Gregory, who will continue to coach Washington’s inside linebackers, has 15 seasons of experience as a defensive coordinator, including eight at the FBS level. He was coordinator for seven seasons at California (2002-09) under Jeff Tedford, and for one at Boise State (2001) under Dan Hawkins. He joined Washington’s staff in 2014 along with former UW head coach Chris Petersen, having served as Boise State’s linebackers coach from 2010 through 2013.
During his time at the UW, Gregory has been a part of a staff that oversaw a unit that led the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense four years in a row. In 2018, he coached Ben Burr-Kirven, the Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year. He also coached first-team All-American Shaq Thompson in 2014 and has mentored a long list of players who have been drafted by and/or played for NFL teams, including Keishawn Bierria, John Timu, Azeem Victor and Cory Littleton – along with Thompson and Burr-Kirven.
Rowan joined the Washington football staff as a defensive analyst in March of 2019, having served as a graduate assistant coach at Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss. A native of Marietta, Ga., he played defensive end and linebacker at Austin Peay and graduated following the 2013 season.
“We are excited to be able to promote Rip to our new defensive line coach. He has put the work in each and every day to prepare for this position,” Lake said. “He has great relationships with everyone in our building and I’m looking forward to seeing his continued growth as he leads our d-linemen.”
Like Gregory, Bhonapha joined the UW coaching staff prior to the 2014 season. Under his direction, Myles Gaskin became the first Pac-12 player ever to rush for more than 1,000 yards in four different seasons. Four UW running backs who played under Bhonapha have made NFL rosters: Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed, Dwayne Washington and Lavon Coleman. He’s also worked with UW’s kick and punt returners and has been apart of coaching and game planning all aspects of special teams.
“I’m excited for Coach Bhonapha to have an expanded role within our program and for him to lead our special teams unit,” Lake said. “He has done an tremendous job with the running back room and has a good understanding of our philosophies on special teams. I’m looking forward to seeing him take this unit to the next level.”
With today’s announcements, all of the UW’s full-time coaching staff positions have been filled for the 2021 season.
Full Release Courtesy of Husky Athletics
