Kwame Agyeman (Kwah-mee Ah-jih-man) is in his first season at Utah State as the safeties coach. Overall, Agyeman will be entering his 10th year as a collegiate coach. He has coached in six bowl games and been part of two conference championship teams.
Agyeman joined the Aggie staff after spending the last two seasons as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Nevada. Agyeman’s work with the Pack defense, and notably with the safeties group, made a major impact early on and throughout the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
In 2023, the Wolf Pack ranked 15th in the nation with three defensive touchdowns, while its top two tacklers played in the backend of the defense in safeties Emany Johnson and Richard Toney Jr. Johnson, who earned first-team all-Mountain West honors, finished the season with a team-best 100 tackles and a team-high three interceptions, while Toney was second on the squad with 67 tackles and two interceptions.
Two more Wolf Pack defenders earned all-league honors following the season as linebackers Tongiaki Mateialona and Drue Watts were both named to the honorable mention team.
During the 2022 season, safety Bentlee Sanders had a career season, finishing as the MW’s interception leader with five, which also ranked 11th nationally. Sanders was named first-team all-MW, and earned national recognition during the campaign, being named to the Associated Press Midseason All-America Team. In addition to his five picks, Sanders led the Nevada defense with 81 tackles, forced three fumbles, and made 5.0 tackles-for-loss.
Fellow safety Tyriq Mack was a major player on the Pack defense in 2022, ranking third on the team with 58 tackles, to go along with an interception.
Agyeman’s safeties played a key role in the Wolf Pack defense in 2022, accounting directly for six interceptions (five by Sanders, one for Mack), and indirectly for three more turnovers as Sanders forced three fumbles. Takeaways played a major role in the Wolf Pack’s first two contests of the season as Nevada forced five turnovers, including four interceptions, in the season-opening win at New Mexico State, and four more turnovers in the following week’s 38-14 victory against Texas State, including a pick-six from Sanders.
Four members of Agyeman’s defense earned all-MW honors following the season in Sanders, defensive tackle Dom Peterson (second team), linebacker Drue Watts (honorable mention) and nickel Tyson Williams (honorable mention).
Prior to joining the Wolf Pack, Agyeman spent seven seasons (2015-21) at Oregon, including three years as a graduate assistant working with defensive backs (2015-17), before shifting to an analyst role where he worked with inside linebackers (2018), safeties (2019) and cornerbacks (2020-21).
During Agyeman’s seven years on staff, Oregon advanced to six bowl games culminating in back-to-back Pac-12 Conference championships in 2019 and 2020 and appearances in the 2020 Rose Bowl and the 2021 Fiesta Bowl.
In his seven seasons with the Ducks, Agyeman helped coach seven players who earned Pac-12 honors, six who were selected in the NFL Draft and another who played professionally after signing a free-agent deal.
Cornerbacks Mykael Wright and Deommodore Lenoir both earned Pac-12 honors following the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Safety Jevon Holland and linebacker Troy Dye both earned second-team all-league recognition as Agyeman worked with their position groups in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Three more of Agyeman’s players claimed honorable mention honors in Arrion Springs and Ugochukwu Amadi in 2017, and Tyree Robinson in 2018.
Four of Agyeman’s players were selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Miami Dolphins picked Holland in the second round, the San Francisco 49ers selected Lenoir in the fifth round, and the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears made Brady Breeze and Thomas Graham Jr. their sixth-round picks, respectively.
The Seattle Seahawks selected Amadi in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, while the Minnesota Vikings picked Dye in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. Robinson signed a free-agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys, making the team’s opening day roster in 2018 before joining the San Francisco 49ers later that season.
Agyeman began his collegiate coaching career at Northwestern. In 2013, he worked in the recruiting office before moving to the role of quality control for special teams in 2014. He started his coaching career in the high school ranks, working in both Oregon and Illinois.
Agyeman lettered at Oregon from 2004-07 and was a two-year starter at linebacker. He then played in the Arena Football League for three seasons before breaking into the coaching ranks as a volunteer assistant at Springfield’s (OR) Thurston High School. An Illinois native, he returned home to teach and coach at his alma mater, Lake Park High School (2010-13).
Agyeman and his wife, Lisa, were married in 2018.
KWAME AGYEMAN FILE
Coaching History
2024-              Utah State – Safeties
2022-23          Nevada – Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
2020-21          Oregon – Defensive Analyst/Cornerbacks
2019               Oregon – Defensive Analyst/Safeties
2018               Oregon – Defensive Analyst/Inside Linebackers
2015-17          Oregon – Graduate Assistant
2014               Northwestern – Quality Control/Special Teams
2013              Northwestern – Recruiting Assistant
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Bowl Games (6)
Oregon (5): 2021 Alamo Bowl; 2021 Fiesta Bowl; 2020 Rose Bowl, 2018 Redbox Bowl; 2017 Las Vegas Bowl; 2016 Alamo Bowl
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Conference Championships (2)
Oregon (2): Pac-12; 2020, 2019
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Playing Experience
2004-07          Oregon – Linebacker
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Education
2008               Oregon – Political Science
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Family
Wife – Lisa
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