Robb Akey

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Robb Akey

Title Head Coach
College Univ. of Idaho
Sport Football
Team record 1-11
Born July 24, 1966 (1966-07-24) (age 41)
Place of birth Colorado Springs, CO
Career highlights
Overall 1-11
Playing career
1984-87 Weber State
Position Defensive Line
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988-94
1995
1996-98
1998-2002
2003-06
2007-Present		 Weber State (DL/ST)
Northern Arizona (ST)
Northern Arizona (DC)
Washington State (DL)
Washington State (DC)
Univ. of Idaho

Robb Akey (born July 24, 1966) is a football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Idaho, hired on December 20, 2006, by athletic director Rob Spear.

Akey succeeds Dennis Erickson, who left his second stint at Idaho after just ten months for Arizona State of the Pac-10. Erickson was preceded by Nick Holt, who voluntarily departed after only two seasons, compiling nine losses in each. The Idaho Vandals were a "football only" member of the Sun Belt for four seasons until joining the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2005.

Contents

[edit] Assistant coach

Robb Akey was a college assistant coach for 19 seasons, the last eight at neighboring Washington State, eight miles to the west on the Palouse. He was hired as a defensive line coach under WSU head coach Mike Price following the 1998 season, and added the defensive coordinator duties in 2003 under new head Bill Doba, who was the defensive coordinator for Price.

Before moving to Pullman for the 1999 season, Akey was an assistant coach for 11 seasons in the Big Sky Conference in Division I-AA. He was at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff for four seasons (1995-98), and at his alma mater, Weber State in Ogden, Utah, from 1988-94.

[edit] Early years

Akey grew up in Colorado Springs, and was a three-sport athlete at Wasson High School, where he graduated in 1984. Akey played on the defensive line for head coach Mike Price at Weber State in the mid-1980s, where he was an all-conference (Big Sky) selection at defensive end in his senior season of 1987. He also earned honorable mention honors on the All-American team (Division I-AA), and was the Wildcats' career sack leader. During his college career he also played at linebacker and on the offense at tight end.

[edit] Break with ties

Robb Akey is the first head coach since Jerry Davitch (1978-81) without previous ties to the University of Idaho, either as a former player or assistant coach. But Akey definitely has familiarity, he lived eight miles (13 km) from the Moscow campus for eight seasons, and had Idaho as an opponent in each of those seasons. In addition, Akey either played or coached against the Vandals for a dozen seasons 1984-95, while a player and assistant coach in the Big Sky.

[edit] Contract

On February 22, 2007, the Idaho State Board of Education approved a five-year, $1.2 million contract for Akey, or $240,000 per year. Akey makes $155,000 in base salary and $85,000 for media/public appearances. This is the largest contract in Vandals' history and includes a $1 million buyout clause if Akey leaves before January 2, 2009.[1]

The buyout clause is pro-rated; the figure drops to $750,000 if he leaves before January 1, 2010 and $500,000 for the remainder of the five-year deal. The large buyout is the result of former coach Dennis Erickson leaving for Arizona State after one season and facing only a $150,000 buyout.

A number of incentives could boost Akey's income, including: $5,000 for being conference coach of the year; $5,000 for academic achievement and team behavior; 1/13th of annual salary ($11,923.20) for a Top 25 ranking; and 1/13th of annual salary for conference championship or the Vandals playing in a bowl game.

[edit] The WSU game

When hired as the Vandals' new head coach, Akey stated that he was opposed to holding the Idaho-WSU game every year. He said he preferred it as a "once-in-a-while thing." He stated one reason was possible "off-field" problems because of two rival programs only eight miles apart.[2]

The "Battle of the Palouse" football game was revived as an annual event in 1998. (Following the 1978 game, the neighbors met just twice in the next two decades ('82 & '89) while the Vandals were in Division I-AA and both games were easily won by WSU. Oddly, the '82 game was played in Spokane, ninety miles north of the Palouse schools.

Through 2007, the two land-grant universities' football teams have met 91 times, starting with three games in 1894 (May, June, and November), with WSU holding a 70-18-3 (.786) edge. Beginning with the 1926 game, the record is an even more dominant 55-5-2 (.903). Idaho's wins came in 1954, 1964, 1965, 1999, & 2000 (with ties in 1927 and 1950). [3]

When the rivalry was renewed in 1998, Idaho lost a close game to the Cougars, losing by eight points with possession at midfield as time ran out. That year the Vandals would go on to win the Big West title and the Humanitarian Bowl with a victory over Southern Miss, finishing with a 9-3 record in their third season back in Division I-A.

Idaho won back-to-back contests in 1999 and 2000 against two extremely poor WSU teams, giving the Vandals a 2-1 edge in the renewed series. But since that 2000 Vandal victory, the games have not been mostly non-competitive. The Cougars dominated the six meetings from 2001-'06, winning each game handily and posting an aggregate score of 253-65. Under Akey, the Vandals were more competitive in 2007, but the Cougars won again by a score of 45-28, pulling away from a 21-21 tie midway through the second quarter.

Since the renewal in 1998, all the contests have been held at Martin Stadium in Pullman, except for the 2003 game, which was played 300 miles west in Seattle at the new Seahawks Stadium. The last game played east of the border in Moscow was in 1966, in the wooden Neale Stadium on a muddy day.

The series with WSU will take a year or two off beginning in 2008; for the near-future the teams will likely play every third or fourth year.

[edit] 2007 UI Football Season Results

Opponent Result Score Record
@ USC Loss 10-38 0-1
Cal Poly Win 20-13 1-1
@ WSU Loss 28-45 1-2
N. Ill. Loss 35-42 1-3
Hawai'i Loss 20-48 1-4
@ San José St. Loss 20-28 1-5
Fresno St. Loss 24-37 1-6
@ N.Mex. St. Loss 31-45 1-7
@ Nevada Loss 21-37 1-8
La. Tech Loss 16-28 1-9
@ Boise St. Loss 14-58 1-10
Utah St. Loss 19-24 1-11

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dennis Erickson		 University of Idaho Head Football Coach
2007–Present		 Succeeded by
current Head Coach
v • d • e
Idaho Vandals Head Football Coaches

Higgins • Morse • Herbold • Griffith • Middleton • Grogan • Griffith • Rademacher • Bleasmaster • Hutchinson • Kelley • Mathews • Erb • Calland • Bank • Schmidt • Brown • Howell • Curfman • Stahley • Andros • Musseau • McNease • Robbins • Troxel • Davitch • Erickson • Gilbertson • Smith • Tormey • Cable • Holt • Erickson • Akey
v • d • e
Western Athletic Conference Head Football Coaches

{{Category:People from Idaho]]