Inoke Breckterfield e-NO-kay(born April 25, 1977) 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 who is currently the defensive line coach at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

(1999–2000) and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

(2001–2003). He was an All-American

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

in 1998.

Early life and family

Breckterfield attended Damien Memorial High School in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

where he was a standout football player and track performer in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He graduated from Damien High in 1995. He is of Fijian,

I-Kiribati The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Samoan and Rotuman descent. His parents are both from

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. He is Paul Manueli's grand-nephew, Breckterfield's grandfather is Paul Manueli's older sibling. He and his wife, Carol, have three sons. Kalevi, is the oldest, and he played football at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic and now plays for the Madison Edgewood Crusaders. And twin boys, Rocky and Riley. Carol played soccer for

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) from 1996 to 1998, where she also was an all-conference selection.

Playing career

College

Breckterfield played for

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

in the fall of 1995. In his time at

, he made a name for himself as a dominant defensive end in the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. Breckterfield was named a third-team All-American in 1998 after being named first team All-Pac-10 Conference. He was also the recipient of the prestigious

Morris Trophy Coaches of the Pac-12 Conference bestow the following awards at the end of each football season. The conference was founded in its current form as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959, but traces its roots to the Pacific Coast Co ...

, awarded annually to the conference's top

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was selected to play in the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

his senior season as well. Breckterfield finished his OSU career as the leader for tackles-for-loss (55.5) and sacks (19.5). He currently ranks second in both.

Professional

After his time with the Beavers, Breckterfield had a successful

career with the

(1999–2000) and

(2001–03).

Coaching career

Breckterfield was the defensive line coach at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and was previously a defensive line coach at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. He was also an assistant coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA) and before that at

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. Before moving to Montana he was an assistant coach at

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

and a graduate assistant coach for

with his former coach, Mike Riley during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Vanderbilt

Brechterfield joined

Clark Lea Clark Lea (born November 11, 1981) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Vanderbilt. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Notre Dame from 2018 to 2020. Lea began his coaching ...

's inaugural staff at Vanderbilt for the 2021 season.

Washington

In December 2021, it was announced that Breckterfield would be leaving Vanderbilt after one season to take the same role at the

References

External links

Washington profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breckterfield, Inoke 1977 births Living people American football defensive ends Canadian football defensive linemen Montana Grizzlies football coaches Oregon State Beavers football players Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Toronto Argonauts players UCLA Bruins football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches Weber State Wildcats football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Coaches of American football from Hawaii Players of American football from Honolulu American players of Canadian football American people of i-Kiribati descent American people of I-Taukei Fijian descent American people of German descent American people of Rotuman descent American sportspeople of Samoan descent