STANFORD, Calif. – Keli’i Kekuewa (pronounced kay-lee-EE kay-koo-AY-vah) has been named Stanford’s offensive line coach, as announced by Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football Tavita Pritchard. A six-year NFL coaching veteran, Kekuewa comes to The Farm after spending the 2025 season as an assistant offensive line coach/run game specialist for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Keli'i is an exceptional coach who brings both NFL expertise and a deep passion for developing dominant offensive linemen,” said Pritchard. “He understands that with our history of elite offensive line play at Stanford, their room will set the standard for our toughness and physicality. Keli'i is a detailed technician who understands how to build a cohesive unit, and his ability to connect with players will be invaluable. I am thrilled to have him leading our offensive line, and I know he will instill the kind of relentless, hard-nose mentality that will help define Stanford football moving forward."
Kekuewa has six seasons of NFL coaching prowess under his belt, including four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks as an assistant offensive line coach/offensive assistant coach and a year with the Panthers in the same role.
“I am honored to be part of the Stanford football coaching staff and the program Andrew Luck and Coach Pritchard are building”, said Kekuewa. “I am grateful for the chance to pour into these young men not just as athletes, but as leaders, students, and men of character. The standard here is excellence on and off the field, and I am proud to be part of it.”
In 2025, the Jaguars’ rushing offense finished tied for fourth in the league for rushing touchdowns (22), sixth in NFL scoring and ESPN’s run-block win rate (68%), and tied for ninth in rushing first downs (124) and ESPN’s pass-block win rate (73%) while sitting in the top-20 of the National Football League’s ranks in total rushing yards (1,956 yards) and rushing yards per game (115.1 yards/game). Kekuewa was an integral part of Jacksonville’s improved rushing offense that posted 77% more rushing touchdowns in 2025 than in the previous campaign. With Kekuewa on staff, Jacksonville won the AFC South for just the third time in 26 years and posted a 12-win season after only winning four games in 2024.
Kekuewa’s time in Carolina during the 2024 season saw the Panthers' protection of the quarterback improve dramatically. The Panthers’ offensive line allowed 45% fewer sacks during the 2024 campaign than in 2023 and finished ranked 10th in ESPN’s run-block win rate (72%), while allowing the rushing offense to flourish, posting 85.7% more rushing touchdowns than the previous season. Running back Chuba Hubbard became the Panthers’ first 1,000-yard rusher since the 2019 season and finished the season ranked eighth in the league in total rushing yards (1,195 yards).
Kekuewa came to the Panthers after four seasons in Seattle, first as an offensive assistant coach in 2020 and then moving to assistant offensive line coach from 2021 to 2023. Seattle won the NFC West in 2020, made the playoffs in the 2022 season, and Kekuewa’s offensive line protected quarterback Geno Smith to a Pro-Bowl season in 2022.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Kekuewa spent a season on Notre Dame’s defensive staff (2019) as a graduate assistant before being elevated to interim tight ends coach for the 2019 Camping World Bowl.
He began his coaching career at Wake Forest (2015-16) before moving on to the University of Minnesota (2017) and Henderson State (Ark.) University (2018), working mainly with the offensive line and tight ends at each program.
In two seasons at Bowling Green (2012-13), Kekuewa started all 27 games at center. An All-Mid-American Conference selection, he was a key part of the Falcons’ offensive unit that averaged more than 34 points per game and won the MAC Championship Game (2013). He spent his first two seasons at Arizona Western Junior College where he led the Matadors to an 11-1 record and a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game.
An academic All-MAC selection, Kekuewa graduated from Bowling Green in 2014 with a degree in environmental studies and earned his master's in liberal studies from Wake Forest in 2016. The Puna, Hawaii native is married to Namelelani (Akiona) Kekuewa.
THE KEKUEWA FILE
- 2026-present- Stanford (Offensive line coach)
- 2025- Jacksonville Jaguars (Assistant offensive line coach/run game specialist)
- 2024- Carolina Panthers (Assistant offensive line coach)
- 2021-23- Seattle Seahawks (Assistant offensive line coach)
- 2020- Seattle Seahawks (Offensive assistant coach)
- 2019- Notre Dame (Graduate assistant/tight ends coach)
- 2018- Henderson State (Offensive line coach/tight ends coach)
- 2017- Minnesota (Offensive line coach/tight ends coach)
- 2015-16- Wake Forest (Offensive line coach)