One of the greatest coaches in Allegheny lore, Ken O’Keefe commanded the sidelines of the Gators’ gridiron program from 1990-97.
The 1990 NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year, O’Keefe is the all-time winningest coach in Allegheny football history with a record of 79-10-1 (.883). Capturing five North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) titles and making five trips to the NCAA Championship Tournament, O’Keefe is most famous for leading the Gators to a victory in the Stagg Bowl en route to the 1990 NCAA Division III National Championship.
During his tenure, in which he was the fourth-winningest football coach across all NCAA divisions, O’Keefe coached 37 All-Americans, four Academic All-Americas, four NCAC Players of the Year, and 77 First Team All-Conference performers.
In 1992, O’Keefe led a North Coast Athletic Conference all-star team to Moscow, Russia for a game with the semi-pro Moscow Bears. That experience led to a partnership called Friendship Through Football that resulted in the first youth football games ever between the United States and Russia.
After leaving Allegheny, O’Keefe served as the head coach at Fordham before being named to the coaching staff at the University of Iowa, where he spent 12 seasons as the program’s offensive coordinator. In 2012, O’Keefe moved to the National Football League (NFL) where he accepted a position as wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins.
O’Keefe earned his B.A. degree in history from John Carroll University in 1975. He and his wife, Joanne, are the proud parents of two children, Meghan and Brendan.
