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Keith Uperesa, who is in his third year at USC, has had success follow him throughout his coaching career. He came to USC in January of 2001 as the offensive line coach; in 2002, he began working with the offensive tackles and tight ends. In 2002, tackle Jacob Rogers was an All-Pac-10 first teamer, while tackle Winston Justice was a Freshman All-American first team pick. Before USC, he spent the previous 2 seasons (1999-2000) as the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Idaho State. The 1999 Bengals had one of the best offenses in school history, with a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a team scoring average of more than 30 points. In 2000, those numbers nearly repeated (a 2,800-yard quarterback, a 900-yard runner and a 29.9 scoring average). Uperesa, 47, spent the previous 12 seasons (1987-98) at Snow Junior College in Ephraim, Ut., including as head coach for the last 4 years (1995-98). His head coaching mark was 35-8 (he was 4-0 in bowls). His 1995 squad went 9-2, was ranked seventh nationally and won the Real Dairy Bowl. In 1996, Snow was 10-1, ranked No. 4 and won the Midwest Bowl as he was named Western States Football League Coach of the Year. Snow went 8-3 in 1997 with a No. 6 ranking and a Mineral Water Bowl victory. His 1998 team finished 8-2, was ranked fifth nationally and captured the Dixie Rotary Bowl (that squad averaged 44.5 points per game and threw 36 touchdown passes); Josh Heupel, who guided Oklahoma to the 2000 national championship, was Snow’s quarterback that season. In his first 8 seasons at Snow, he was the offensive line coach and special teams coordinator (Snow played in the 1992 Dixie Rotary Bowl). During that time, he also held a variety of duties, including sports information director, director of student support services, assistant intramural director, health and physical education department instructor and Polynesian Club advisor. Uperesa began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU, his alma mater, for 2 seasons (1985-86). The Cougars played in the 1985 Florida Citrus Bowl and 1986 Freedom Bowl. He played at BYU for 4 seasons (1974-77), where he was an All-Western Athletic Conference offensive tackle in 1977. He played in the 1977 Hula Bowl and Blue-Gray Classic. He earned his bachelor’s degree in recreational management in 1984 and his master’s in physical education administration in 1986, both from BYU. He played in the NFL with the Denver Broncos in 1978 and the Oakland Raiders in 1979. He then worked in private business before coaching at BYU. He prepped at Punahou High in Honolulu, Hi., where he starred in football, basketball and track. He was born July 28, 1955. He and his wife, Kaipo, have a son, Ikaika, 21, and 2 daughters, Naupaka, 19, and Kahikole, 13. His brother, Kevin, played football at California in 1977 and 1978. His nephew, Dane Uperesa, is was an offensive lineman at Hawaii. |
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