The news has been long-awaited, but Mike Levenseller has been announced as Idaho’s receivers coach and passing game coordinator. The announcement came Monday, months after the former Washing- ton State wide receiver was expected to take the vacant offensive coordinator position, left by Steve Axman.
Levenseller most recently worked under former Washington State coach Paul Idaho coach Robb Akey said having Siavii back this season is huge. Wulff as the Cougars’ receivers coach.
Idaho coach Robb Akey’s relationship with Levenseller dates back to 1999, when Akey was hired to the Washington State staff. Akey said he thinks highly of Levenseller, a former sixth-round NFL draft pick.
“We’ve won a lot of games together,” Akey said. “We couldn’t get a better hire than we were able to get with Mike Levenseller. I’m really fired up to have him join our football staff.”
Levenseller’s hire precedes that of another ex-Cougar, Jason Gesser, who was recently named the Vandals’ offen- sive coordinator.
A Tacoma, Wash., native, Lev- enseller has been one of the Palouse’s most familiar coaching faces since Washington State brought him on as a receivers coach in 1992. Levenseller helped the Cougars finish in the top 20 nationally in total offense during his first two years as the offensive coordinator.
“He is one of the best receivers coaches in the country,” Akey said. “He’s a great teacher. He’s a great tech- nician. He is exactly what we need for our wide receiver outfit.”
At Washington State, Levenseller was a two-time all-Pacific 8 choice, an Associated Press all-West Coast first-team selection and an honorable mention all-American by the AP.
Out of college, Levenseller was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 1978 and spent time with Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati during his three-year NFL stint.
Akey has yet to announce the team’s running backs coach, who is currently with the team as a consultant. The announcement, according to Akey, will follow that of the receivers coach.
Theo Lawson can be reached at [email protected]