James Brockman Olivo (born June 24, 1976) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who is the tight ends coach at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. Prior to his current job, he was the running backs coach for the Philadelphia Stars of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). Previously, he was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for four seasons. He then played in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

High school career

Born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, and raised in

Hermann, Missouri Hermann is a city in and the county seat of Gasconade County, Missouri, United States. It has been the county seat since 1842. It is near the center of the Missouri Rhineland and south of the Missouri River. The population was 2,185 at the 2020 ...

, Olivo attended

St. Francis Borgia Regional High School St. Francis Borgia Regional High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri, established in 1901. As of 2021, its enrollment is 430 students. History St. Francis Borgia High School dates back to 1901 w ...

Washington, Missouri Washington is a city on the south banks of the Missouri River, 50 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri, and the largest in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The estimated population in July 2021 was 14,916, an increase of 7% since the 2010 ...

, where he

rushed ''Rushed'' is a 2021 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Vibeke Muasya and starring Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who also wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film) and Robert Patrick. Plot Barbara O’Brien, an Irish-Catholic mother i ...

for 5,030 yards and 70

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s during his high school career. He led Borgia to an undefeated season and Missouri state championship in 1993, as well as being named the Gatorade "Player of the Year" in the state of Missouri.

Education and college career

Olivo attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

where he earned a degree in English literature.Education section - Brock Olivo for Congress Web Site
As a member of the football team, Olivo was the first awardee of the Mosi Tatupu Award for the top special teams player in

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. He left as the University of Missouri's career rushing and touchdown leader, but both records have since been broken (twice as of 2008). He was the seventh player in school history to have his jersey retired. He was also tapped into the Mystical Seven secret honor society during his tenure at Mizzou.

Professional career

Olivo went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

out of college, but he made the

roster with his tenacious play on their special teams units. Olivo played for 4 seasons on Detroit's league-leading special teams, where he led the team in tackles on special teams in two of his four seasons, as well as being a backup at running back and fullback. After the NFL, from 2003 to 2004, Olivo played running back and was also a coach in Italy with the Lazio Marines, a team in the top division

of Italy's American professional football league. He helped the team to the semifinals game for the first time in the team's history.

Coaching career

Olivo served as head coach and offensive coordinator of the Italy national American football team, and lived in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

before returning to the United States. He was later the running backs coach and special teams assistant for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

of the United Football League. In 2012, Olivo was hired as an assistant coach, running backs coach, and special teams coach at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

. Following back-to-back Big South Conference Championships (2012–13) with Coastal Carolina, Olivo was hired by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

to become their assistant special teams coach. On January 24, 2017, he was announced by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

as their special teams coordinator. On January 19, 2018, Olivo was hired by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

as a special teams assistant, reuniting him with new head coach

Matt Nagy Matthew Nagy ( or ; born April 24, 1978) is an American football coach, and former arena football quarterback, who is the senior assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head ...

, who was a colleague of Olivo's in Kansas City.''Bears hiring Brock Olivo as assistant special teams coach''
/ref> He was fired on December 31, 2019. Olivo returned to Rome in 2020 to join the Lazio Ducks (a merger of the Lazio Marines and the Roma Grizzlies) as their coach, but the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Following a stint as assistant coach of the Italy national American football team, Olivo was hired as the running backs coach for the Philadelphia Stars of the

. Prior to the 2022 NCCA Division III season, Olivo was hired as the tight ends coach at

Personal life

In 2008, Olivo ran unsuccessfully for Congress in

Missouri's 9th congressional district Missouri's 9th congressional district was a US congressional district, dissolved in 2013, that last encompassed rural Northeast Missouri, the area known as " Little Dixie," along with the larger towns of Columbia, Fulton, Kirksville and Unio ...

, losing the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary to eventual victor

Blaine Luetkemeyer William Blaine Luetkemeyer ( ; born May 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Luetkemeyer formerly served as a member of the Missouri House of ...

. Olivo has been married twice: firstly, to Samuela, and then to Federica, with whom he has a daughter.

References

External links

NFL Career Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivo, Brock 1976 births Living people People from Gasconade County, Missouri People from Washington, Missouri American football running backs Missouri Tigers football players San Francisco 49ers players Detroit Lions players Sportspeople from Columbia, Missouri American people of Italian descent Missouri Republicans Omaha Nighthawks coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Denver Broncos coaches Chicago Bears coaches American expatriate players of American football Players of American football from St. Louis American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Philadelphia Stars (2022) coaches