Johnny Nansen (born February 28, 1974) is a Samoan-born, former

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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and the current defensive coordinator for the Arizona Wildcats.

Early life

Nansen was born on February 28, 1974, in

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and lived in

Laulii Lauli'i is a village on the island of Upolu in Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of the island to the east of the capital Apia. Lauli'i is part of Vaimauga East Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which forms part of the lar ...

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

early in his childhood. Nansen moved to the mainland United States at the age of 14.

Playing career

Nansen played football at Jordan High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and went on to play college football at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

, where he was on the team from 1992 to 1996. After lettering on the football team for three years, Nansen earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1997.

Coaching career

Early Coaching Career

Nansen been coaching in 1998, serving as defensive coordinator for Cabrillo High School in

. The following year, Nansen served as a graduate assistant for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

and worked with the defensive line. He then served a one-year stint at

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

, followed by a four-year stint at Idaho State, where he coached cornerbacks from 2001 to 2002 and the entire secondary in 2003.

Idaho

Nansen's first Division I-A job was with the

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The football team was an independent for th ...

. Nansen spent five seasons (2004–2008) at Idaho; he coached the linebackers from 2004 to 2006 and the defensive line from 2007 to 2008. He also served as special teams coordinator for his entire tenure there.

Washington

Nansen returned to the Power Five with a five-season stint at

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. He coached the defensive line from 2009 to 2011 and the running backs from 2012 to 2013; he was also in charge of special teams during those five years. Washington played in four bowl games while Nansen was there and produced a top 20 rushing offense during his final year there.

USC

Nansen spent the next six seasons of his coaching career at USC. He served as assistant head coach from 2014 to 2018, and he also coached running backs from 2014 to 2015, linebackers from 2016 to 2018, and inside linebackers in his final year at USC in 2019. In 2018 he was nominated for the

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

UCLA

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, Nansen was hired as the defensive line coach at

UCLA 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 ...

, following the departure of the Bruins' defensive line coach

Vince Oghobaase Vince Oghobaase (born January 24, 1987) is a former American football defensive tackle who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Hartford Colonials as an undr ...

to Boston College.

Arizona

In December 2021 he was named the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Wildcats under

Jedd Fisch Jedd Ari Fisch (born May 5, 1976) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at the University of Arizona. Fisch previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots and as an assistant offensive coordinat ...

to replace Don Brown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nansen, Johnny Living people 1974 births Samoan expatriates in the United States Players of American football from Long Beach, California Sportspeople from Long Beach, California American people of Samoan descent Washington State Cougars football players Louisville Cardinals football coaches Idaho State Bengals football coaches Montana State Bobcats football coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches USC Trojans football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches