Veteran coordinator Bob Gregory enters his second season as Stanford’s special teams coordinator and Couch Family Safeties Coach in 2024.
Gregory coached in the Pac-12 for 23 years during his career and has also been a coordinator (defensive or special teams) for 23 seasons throughout his career.
His first season on The Farm saw him oversee the special teams unit that featured Joshua Karty, who became a two-time first team All-America selection and sixth round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams. Karty made 23 field goals in 2023, the most in a single season in Stanford history. His selection by the Rams in the NFL draft marked the first time since 2019 a Stanford specialist had been taken in the draft.
Not only were special teams a strength of the Cardinal, his safeties saw improved play from the season before. Stanford safeties combined for three interceptions, including an Alaka'i Gilman interception at Colorado that helped set up a game-winning field goal by Karty to cap off a program-best 29-point comeback victory. Gilman was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention following the season. Scotty Edwards had two interceptions, the first Stanford safety with multiple interceptions since 2021.
After spending eight seasons at Washington (2014-21), Gregory spent the 2022 season as a defensive analyst at Oregon.
Gregory was Washington’s defensive coordinator in 2021 before becoming the interim head coach midway through the season. For the five seasons prior, Gregory had served as UW’s special teams coordinator.
During the four-game 2020 season, Gregory coached inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, a former walk-on who finished the season with 47 tackles, first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the NCAA (based on per-game average). Ulofoshio earned second team All-Pac-12 and honorable mention All-America from Pro Football Focus.
In 2019, Gregory led the Husky special teams to another highly successful season. Washington’s punt team set a school record for punt average, while sophomore kicker Peyton Henry finished 19-for-21 on field goals. Washington added another punt return TD (Aaron Fuller), while their punt and kick coverage teams both achieved at the highest level. Opponents totaled just 44 yards of punt returns all season and managed just a 20.0-yard average on kickoff returns.
The 2018 season was highlighted by the performance of UW middle linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, who Gregory helped mentor to the top of the Pac-12. Burr-Kirven was named first team All-America by numerous outlets and won the Pat Tillman Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award. Burr-Kirven, who was also the Pac-12’s football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, posted a remarkable total of 176 tackles, the highest total by a Husky in 29 years and more than double any teammate in 2018. Gregory was also a key to the Huskies leading the Pac-12 in both scoring and total defense for the fourth consecutive season.
In 2017, Gregory’s linebackers led the Pac-12’s top defense for a third-straight season. Washington led the conference in total defense (eighth nationally) and scoring defense (fifth nationally). They also led the Pac-12 in rushing defense (fourth nationally). Two of his players –Burr-Kirven and Keishawn Bierria – earned second team All-Pac-12 honors. Beirria and Azeem Victor went on to hear their names called in the 2018 NFL Draft, the first pair of Husky inside linebackers to be selected in the same draft since 1993.
Gregory also mentored a special teams unit that included consensus All-American Dante Pettis, who set a NCAA record for career punt return touchdowns.
In his first year overseeing the UW’s special teams, Gregory’s units had a lot of success. John Ross and Pettis formed one of the most dangerous kick return/punt return duos in the country while the Huskies allowed just 18.8 yards per kick return and a total of just 116 punt return yards all year.
In 2015, Gregory oversaw a linebacker crew that, despite having lost two players to the NFL, anchored the top defense in the Pac-12 Conference. The Husky defense led the Pac-12 in scoring defense and total defense and also finished second in rushing defense. Inside linebackers Victor and Bierria were among the conference’s top tacklers while outside backers Travis Feeney and Cory Littleton both finished in the top 10 in the league in sacks and went on to play in the NFL in 2016. Littleton, a star for the Los Angeles Rams, earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl in 2018.
In his first season on Montlake in 2014, Gregory oversaw a veteran group of linebackers that included first-team All-American Shaq Thomspon, as well as top tackler John Timu. Between those two and then-junior Feeney, Husky linebackers scored a remarkable seven defensive touchdowns. Timu lead the team in tackles (108), while Thompson won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player. Thompson was the first-round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers following the 2014 season while Timu earned a roster spot with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent, starting several games at the end of the 2015 season.
Gregory joined Washington after spending the 2013 season in the same role at Boise State. He was also interim head coach for Boise State in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl after Chris Petersen departed for Washington.
Gregory had two stints at Boise State, the second starting in 2010 as linebackers coach. The Broncos led the Western Athletic and Mountain West Conferences in total defense and scoring defense in each of his first three seasons and were third and second, respectively, in 2013.
In Gregory’s first three seasons, the Broncos were one of seven teams to rank among the nation’s top 25 in total defense. They were second nationally in 2010, 16th in 2011 and 12th in 2012. In that same span, opponents averaged just 297.1 yards per game, making the Broncos one of six teams to allow less than 300 yards per game.
In four total seasons, the Broncos’ defense allowed 18.0 points per game. The Broncos ranked second-nationally in scoring defense in 2010 (12.8 ppg), 12th in 2011 (18.7), eighth in 2012 (15.8) and 50th in 2013 (24.8).
Three linebackers earned all-conference accolades during Gregory’s tenure as linebackers coach. J.C. Percy earned first team honors in 2012, Byron Hout (2010) was second team, while Tommy Smith (2012) and Hout (2011) earned honorable mention.
From 2002-09, Gregory served as defensive coordinator at California, a capacity he also held at Boise State in 2001. With the Golden Bears, Gregory’s defenses were annually ranked among the nation’s best. In eight seasons under Gregory, the Bears allowed opponents an average of 22.5 points per game.
The Bears’ defense ranked among the top 10 nationally in four different categories during the 2008 season, while his 2004 team was second in the nation in rush defense (82.5) and eighth in scoring defense (16.0). Gregory was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2004, which honors the top assistant coach in football.
Gregory and Petersen joined Dan Hawkins’ Boise State staff in 2001 to become defensive and offensive coordinators after working together at Oregon. In Gregory’s only season as defensive coordinator at Boise State in 2001, the Broncos were second in the WAC in scoring defense (23.3 ppg) and rushing defense (118.1 ypg).
At Oregon, Gregory served as defensive backs coach from 1998-2000. He was defensive coordinator at Willamette (Ore.) from 1992-97 and was defensive backs coach in 1991.
He spent two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Oregon in 1989 and 1990 after starting his coaching career at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He served as defensive backs coach in 1987 and defensive coordinator in 1988.
Gregory is a 1987 graduate of Washington State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English. He played linebacker and defensive back for the Cougars. Gregory earned his master’s degree in educational policy at Oregon.
He has two sons, Jack and Joe.