Losing Pete Kwitakowski has led to an adjustment for nearly half of Washington's staff.
Jimmy Lake promoted Bob Gregory to become U-Dub's new defensive coordinator, continuing the Lake/Petersen tree. Gregory joined Chris Petersen from Boise State in 2014 and has remained Washington's linebackers coach ever since. He added special teams duties in 2016, but will now shed that responsibility to oversee the entire defense.
"Coach Gregory is the perfect fit to take over the reins as our new defensive coordinator," Lake said. "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 began working for Petersen in 2010, and was Cal's defensive coordinator for seven seasons prior to that. He also owns previous coordinator experience at Boise State, Willamette University and Washington University in St. Louis.
To fill the various created by Kwiatkowski's departure and Gregory's promotion, Lake has promoted running backs coach Keith Bhonapha has been appointed special teams coordinator, Ikaika Malloe has moved from defensive line to outside linebackers, and analyst Rip Rowan has been promoted to defensive line coach.
The moves complete Washington's coaching staff for the 2021 campaign, Lake's second at the helm. The Huskies went 3-1 in 2020, winning the Pac-12 North.
"(Rowan) has great relationships with everyone in our building and I'm looking forward to seeing his continued growth as he leads our d-linemen," Lake said. "(Bhonapha) has done a 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."
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