Donnell Leomiti - Football Coach - University of Colorado Athletics

Arizona

Nov 1 (Sat)

5:00 p.m.

Donnell Leomiti

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Donnell Leomiti is in his second year as the defensive technical intern, as he assumed the role in March 2005, returning to his alma mater to continue working in the football coaching ranks.

Leomiti, 34, joined CU from Boulder High School, where he coached the linebackers for four years while coaching an after school youth program for the Boulder County School District, which he had done since graduating from CU in 1998. The last two years he worked as a counselor for at-risk minority students and low-income families for the Family Learning Center in Boulder.

He completed his playing career in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1996, signed as a free agent with the San Francisco but a previous neck injury eventually ruled out his pursuing a pro football career. He returned to CU and finished up his degree in communication in the spring of 1998. He then started coaching, working as an assistant at Denver North High School for two years (1999-2000), also while working his Boulder County job.

Starting out as a receiver at CU, he saw action in 11 games including the Fiesta Bowl as a true freshman in 1992, but was moved to the safety the following year, where he would earn three letters and start at strong safety his junior and senior years. He had 159 career tackles, including 98 as a senior (the third most on the team), along with three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and seven pass deflections. Two of his biggest plays came his junior year (1994): he returned an interception for a touchdown at Missouri and had a key fumble recovery in the fourth quarter at Michigan, a big play in the game now referred to as both “The Miracle in Michigan” and “The Catch.”

A native of Santa Ana, Calif., he graduated from Leone High School in Pavaiai, American Samoa, in 1992 where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He was a two-time Ashaa League most valuable player on offense, earning the honor his junior and senior years. He is the father of two children, Donnell Jr. (11) and Siliaga (9).