MEADVILLE — Former Allegheny College head football coach Ken O’Keefe received an offer he simply could not refuse last winter.

O’Keefe, who coached the Gators to the NCAA Division III national championship in 1990, was contacted by one of his former assistant coaches — Joe Philbin, the offensive coordinator on that Allegheny team. Philbin was named the Miami Dolphins’ head coach on Jan. 20, and upon offering O’Keefe the wide receivers coach position, the former mentor couldn’t let his longtime friend down.

The two coaches, who most recently spent four years together at the University of Iowa, are embarking on their third different coaching level together. From Division III to Division I to the National Football League, they’ve kept in touch. And now they’re working on the big stage that is the NFL.

“Being at Iowa for 13 years, (Hawkeyes head coach) Kirk Ferentz was great to us the entire time we were there,” O’Keefe said recently. “At this point in our career, the timing was right. It was a tough decision to make, but certainly because it was Joe, that made it a lot easier.”

Philbin and O’Keefe worked together at Allegheny from 1990-93. After Philbin spent some time during the mid-1990s at Division I colleges, the two reunited from 1999 to 2002 at Iowa.

While Philbin jumped to the NFL from 2003-11 as an assistant coach and eventually helped the Packers win the Super Bowl in 2011 as their offensive coordinator, O’Keefe remained at Iowa before receiving Philbin’s NFL offer with the Dolphins, who opened their preseason training camp this week.

“I knew there was going to be a right situation and a right spot,” Philbin said. “I just wanted to make sure he wanted to do it. He had been a college coach for a long time.”

Even throughout the years they weren’t coaching together, the two were able to keep in touch. Philbin said that the two have compatible philosophies, and that always kept them closely knit in the football world. But the Philbin and O’Keefe families also remained in contact personally.

“Joe’s always been great about staying in touch and keeping the lines of communication open,” O’Keefe said. “Having worked with each other a few times, our families have worked with each other and the wives know each other. That helps in a profession when you work as many hours as you do.”

The 2012 preseason will include an interesting wrinkle for the Dolphins. Not only will Philbin and O’Keefe coach the Dolphins for the first time, but there will be added attention from the media since HBO’s annual program, “Hard Knocks,” will feature the Dolphins.

While it can definitely serve as a distraction for some players, Philbin said he and his team are excited about the opportunity and the spotlight. It’ll add an eventful buildup to the 2012 regular season, which is the 40th anniversary of Miami’s 1972 championship team that went 17-0 — the only undefeated team to win the Super Bowl in NFL history.

“I think our guys will handle it well,” Philbin said. “As I said to our team, the last time I checked they’re going to have some cameras at the games when we’re there. ... I think it’ll be good for our players as a learning experience and good for our fans to connect to our current roster.”



And Fraser, too

But Philbin and O’Keefe aren’t the only ones from Allegheny’s 1990 national title team who are working in Florida as an NFL coach. Former Gators coach Bob Fraser enters his first year as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ linebackers coach.

“Fraser is a great coach — hard worker,” Philbin said in early June during the hall of fame event at Allegheny that honored O’Keefe and the 1990 team. Fraser wasn’t able to attend since he had to stay in Florida for a Buccaneers event that weekend. Until this year, his most recent post was as defensive coordinator for the Rutgers University team.

“I sent him a text,” Philbin said. “I kind of busted his chops. ‘Where the heck are you?’ But he’s a heck of a coach. ... I’m sure he’ll do an excellent job, no doubt.”

And to top things off, in addition to Philbin and O’Keefe reuniting and the added attention of “Hard Knocks” this summer, Miami and Tampa Bay will face off in the preseason opener on Aug. 10 in Miami. Fraser will be on the opposing sideline of Philbin and O’Keefe in just over a month, but O’Keefe knows that he’ll be plenty busy and won’t have time to think about coaching against Fraser.

“It’s football, it’s coaching,” O’Keefe said. “I don’t anticipate it being any different than it is any other time. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of things to concern ourselves with.”



Dan Walk can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at dwalk@meadvilletribune.com.