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Aaron Donald Gives a Super Bowl Thank You to Coach Nokes

New UW defensive-line coach and NFL's top edge rusher have longstanding connection.
Dan Raley|
Aaron Donald Gives a Super Bowl Thank You to Coach Nokes
Aaron Donald Gives a Super Bowl Thank You to Coach Nokes

Aaron Donald calls him "Coach Nokes."

As in Inoke Breckterfield.

They were together at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 and 2013 as player and coach.

One's now a headliner in the Super Bowl for the Los Angeles Rams. The other has a new coaching assignment, which is to rebuild the defensive line at the University of Washington. 

As the spotlight falls on the biggest football game of the year on Sunday, Donald took a moment to single out Coach Nokes for helping get him to the showcase event against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Donald, of course, is considered the NFL's top edge rusher.

"My junior year in college I had a defensive-line coach named Coach Nokes," Donald recounted in a Super Bowl interview posted on Twitter. "He actually helped me and taught me how to actually study film.” 

In 2013, their last college season together, their Paul Chryst-coached Pittsburgh team finished 7-6, ending the season with a 30-27 victory over Bowling Green in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit. A midseason highlight was a 28-21 victory over No. 24-ranked Notre Dame at home.

"My first impression was he loves football and he loves practice and he loves training," Breckterfield said of the Pennsylvania native who made himself into an NFL first-round draft pick.

Coach Nokes encouraged Donald to watch film to get an edge, and not just watch but take notes and study the nuances of the position.

Donald felt the game slow down when he was armed with information to go with his physical prowess. He's been a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year selection.

"Once I started doing that and watching film, and it was teaching me what I'm watching instead of just watching it, and you're actually studying a guy, that's when I feel my game go to another level," he said.

Donald and Coach Nokes still keep in touch, still maintain that Pitt relationship.

While Donald pursues an NFL championship, Breckterfield will be looking for someone similar to him that he can mold and take over the UW defensive line.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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