Ephraim Banda

Ephraim Banda (born November 1, 1981) is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Utah State University.

Ephraim Banda
Current position
TitleDefensive coordinator
TeamUtah State
ConferenceMW
Biographical details
Born (1981-11-01) November 1, 1981
San Antonio, Texas
Playing career
2008–2010Incarnate Word
Position(s)Safety
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2011Incarnate Word (SA)
2012–2014Texas (GA)
2015Mississippi State (DQC)
2016–2018Miami (FL) (S)
2019–2020Miami (FL) (co-DC/S)
2021–presentUtah State (DC/S)

Playing career

Banda played safety at Incarnate Word from 2008 to 2010, where he joined the newly created football program as a 25-year old walk-on and was named the special teams captain in the program's first career game.[1] He was considered to be one of the oldest players in college football at that time, and was also older than his position coach.

Coaching career

After suffering a knee injury that ended his playing career, Banda stayed with the Cardinals football program as a student assistant while he completed his degree.[2] He was named a graduate assistant at Texas in 2012 behind the recommendation of a former Incarnate Word coach who was hired at Texas.[3] While at Texas, he developed a close relationship with Longhorns defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, as they both got their first jobs outside of coaching. He stayed with the program as they transitioned from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong before joining Diaz at Mississippi State as a defensive quality control coach.

Miami (FL)

Banda followed Diaz to Miami, where he was named the safeties coach in 2016.[4] After Diaz left briefly to accept the head coaching position at Temple, Banda was promoted to co-defensive coordinator.[5]

Utah State

Banda was named the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Utah State on January 5, 2021.[6]

Personal life

Banda and his wife Crystal have two children; Darian and Aamani. Before playing at Incarnate Word, Banda was a bartender on the San Antonio River Walk and continued to work as one during his playing career in order to pay bills.[7]

References
  1. "Incarnate Word football player, 27, a testament to perseverance". KENS 5. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. "Incarnate Word's Banda enjoying transition from football player to student coach". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. "How one Miami assistant refused to quit on his dreams". ESPN. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. "Ephraim Banda joins Miami Hurricanes as safeties coach". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  5. "The Miami Hurricanes aren't going far to replace Manny Diaz at defensive coordinator". Miami Herald. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  6. "Ephraim Banda Named Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach at Utah State". Utah State University Athletics. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  7. "Ephraim Banda's 'crazy' journey from bartender to Miami Hurricanes safeties coach". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.