| ||||||||||||
Inoke (pronounced ee-NO-kay) Breckterfield, an All-Pac-10 defensive lineman during his playing career, is in his first season as defensive line coach at UCLA. He joined the staff on February 18.
"Inoke is an outstanding young talent who I feel will have a great impact on our defensive linemen," said UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel. "(Oregon State head coach) Mike Riley and (Montana head coach) Robin Pflugrad were both effusive in their praise of Inoke and he really impressed me, Joe Tresey and the other defensive assistants during his interview. You can tell by listening to him that he is a real people person who will connect with our linemen and will be an outstanding recruiter as well."
Breckterfield, 33, coached the defensive line at Montana in the 2010 season. The Grizzlies ranked first in the Big Sky and 14th in the BCS in tackles for loss (7.64 per game) and second in the league and 18th nationally in sacks per contest (2.64). Montana ranked 103rd and 88th in those categories, respectively, in 2009.
The new Bruin coach tutored the defensive line at Weber State in 2009. Following that season, he moved to Portland State but was hired at Montana two months later.
Prior to his stint in Ogden, he spent three seasons under Riley at his alma mater, Oregon State. He was a graduate assistant coach for the Beavers in 2008 and 2007 and was a volunteer coach in 2006, working with the defensive line.
He was a standout defensive lineman for the Beavers, playing his final two years (1997-98) under Riley. As a senior in 1998, he was named first-team Pac-10 and third team All-American (Associated Press) at defensive end. In addition, he was voted team MVP, was the defensive winner of the Morris Trophy Award (the best defensive lineman in the league as voted on by Pac-10 offensive linemen), selected to play in the Hula Bowl and named Oregon State's "Male Athlete of the Year."
As a junior at OSU, he was named second team Pac-10, team MVP and honorable mention all-American. He was honorable mention all-league as a sophomore and chosen OSU's "Rookie of the Year" on defense as a freshman. Breckterfield left OSU as the school's career leader in tackles for loss (55.5) and sacks (19.5) and is currently ranked second in both categories at the school.
Following his college career, he played in the Canadian Football League for five seasons for the Toronto Argonauts (1999-2000) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2001-03). He worked in the private sector in Aiea, Hawaii, from 2003-06 and then returned to OSU to attend school and serve as a volunteer assistant coach.
He earned his Bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies from OSU in 2007.
Breckterfield and his wife, Carol, have a 10-year-old son, Kalevi. Carol earned All-Pac-10 honors in soccer at USC, playing from 1996-98.
No comments:
Post a Comment