Former Oregon long snapper Peyton Yanagi to be hired as Nevada special teams coordinator

With the 2023 season approaching, Nevada head coach Ken Wilson was still looking for a special teams coordinator. Just under a month away from the season opener against USC, a hire has finally been made — one with West Coast roots.

Nevada has hired former Oregon long snapper Peyton Yanagi according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. After spending time with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Yanagi will be taking a step up with the special teams coordinator role.”

“Former Oregon long snapper Peyton Yanagi is expected to be hired as the special teams coordinator at Nevada, a source tells @on3sports,” Zenitz said via Twitter. “Yanagi has been on staff at Tulsa as an analyst.”

Yanagi attended the famous St. Louis High School in Honolulu, HI. Players such as Marcus Mariota and Tua Tagovailoa have left the islands and had success in college football, making it an important recruiting area for a few programs.

According to Yanagi’s 2021 official roster profile from Oregon, he was a four-star long snapping prospect heading into college. However, he did not receive any playing time during his four seasons in Eugene. Instead, he decided to leave the playing field and get into the coaching world.

Tulsa hired Yanagi as a graduate assistant last season. Joe Bolden is the Golden Hurricane’s special teams coordinator, welcoming the young coach onto the staff. Wilson must have liked the results and decided to hire Yanagi to help run Nevada’s special teams.

Nevada recently hired a special teams coordinator, with Michael Barton being in charge of the entire operation. However, he will coach outside linebackers at the same time, working under co-defensive coordinators Kwame Agyeman and Mike Bethea.

With Yanagi having his sole focus being special teams, he will be a critical part of the Wolfpack’s success moving forward. Every single head coach will tell you how important all three phases of the game can be. Special teams have decided games on plenty of occasions.

Nevada was middle of the road when it came to punts, being No. 7 in the Mountain West Conference in net punt yards. However, on average, they were one of the best when it came to kickoff coverage. They may have not kicked off too many times but teams saw them travel an average of 62.9 yards.

Even so, there is still improvement as Nevada heads into the 2023 season. Yanagi will be hoping he can make a difference.