A familiar name around BYU is now in charge of his old position group.
The Cougars confirmed on Thursday that head coach Kalani Sitake had promoted former star rusher Harvey Unga to be the team’s new running backs coach.
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity,” Unga said in a statement. “It has been a dream of mine to coach at BYU and also coach the position I played. I am grateful to (athletic director) Tom Holmoe, Brian Santiago, Kalani Sitake, coach (Jeff) Grimes and the staff for their trust in allowing me to take on this role. It is humbling.”
Unga played his high school ball in Provo before staring for the college team down the street. He broke onto the scene quickly and earned MWC Freshman of the Year honors in 2007. He wound up posting a since-broken school record of 3,455 career rushing yards.
An honor code violation in the spring of 2010 forced him to enter the NFL early. He eventually was selected by the Chicago Bears in the supplemental draft. He spent parts of four seasons in the Windy City and another with the Carolina Panthers.
In 2017, Unga re-joined his alma mater as a graduate assistant. Now he’s a full-time coach on the staff following the departure of AJ Steward to Arizona.
