Rob Keefe (born November 5, 1980) is a former

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

defensive specialist In arena football, a specialist was a player, other than a quarterback or placekicker, who was exempt from the league's one-platoon system ("Iron Man"). Under the original Arena football system, six of the eight players on each team were required t ...

and coach. Keefe has five championship victories and is the only person in arena football history to win

ArenaCup The ArenaCup was the af2's championship game. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, the 2005 ArenaCup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 Ar ...

(

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

) and

ArenaBowl The ArenaBowl was the championship game of the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally hosted at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena based on home attendance during the inaugural 1987 season, save four years (2005–2008) the game was hosted by the team w ...

(AFL) titles as both a player and a coach. As of the 2022 season, he is an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the

Bay Area Panthers The Bay Area Panthers are a professional indoor football team based in San Jose, California, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was to begin play in 2020 at Oakland Arena as the Oakland Panthers. Due the onset of the CO ...

in the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

Playing career

Mercyhurst

Keefe attended Mercyhurst College (Erie, PA) from 1999 to 2003. He delivered nine interceptions in his career and ranks 27th in school history with 166 career tackles. Also a standout on special teams, Keefe holds the school's career record with 643 yards on punt returns.

Spokane Shock

Keefe joined the Spokane Shock (then af2) for the club's inaugural season in 2006, helping the franchise secure its first ArenaCup Championship. He ended his two-year tenure with the Shock as the team's career leader in tackles (168) and interceptions (19), twice earning all-af2 accolades as a defensive back.

Philadelphia Soul

Keefe entered the AFL in 2008 as a member of the Philadelphia Soul. In his only AFL season as a player, Keefe helped the Soul earn a victory over the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII.

Coaching career

Spokane Shock

In 2009, Keefe joined the Spokane Shock as the defensive backs coach. That season, the Shock boasted the af2's top-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 37.6 points per game. Keefe's secondary surrendered the fifth-lowest number of passing yards per game (231.6) and registered the second-highest interception total in the league (34). The season culminated in an ArenaCup Championship title. Keefe was promoted to head coach of the Shock when the organization joined the Arena Football League in 2010. Under Keefe's guidance, Spokane finished with the best record in the AFL (13–3 regular season) while producing the League's fourth-ranked scoring defense (52.7 ppg). Keefe became the youngest coach in AFL history to win a championship, as the Shock defeated the Tampa Bay Storm in ArenaBowl XXIII.

Orlando Predators

Keefe began the 2012 season as the offensive coordinator of the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

. On April 10, 2012, it was announced that Keefe had been fired and replaced as offensive coordinator by

Ben Bennett Allen Beverly "Ben" Bennett II (born May 5, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. He also was a member ...

Utah Blaze

Keefe took over as the new defensive coordinator of the Utah Blaze midway through the 2012 season and engineered a dramatic turnaround on that side of the ball. After allowing an average of 64 points over the first 10 games of the season, Utah allowed just over 51 points per contest under Keefe. In the opening round of the 2012 postseason, the change in culture was loudly put on display as the Blaze defense surrendered a mere 34 points in a victory over the top-seeded San Antonio Talons.

Orlando Predators

On December 24, 2013, Keefe was named the new head coach of the Orlando Predators. In his first season as head coach of the Orlando Predators, Keefe directed the franchise to its first division title since 2006, coming within one win of a berth in the Arena Bowl. The 2014 Orlando Predators secured the South Division Championship and reached the American Conference Championship after knocking off the 15-3 Pittsburgh Power in the opening round of the postseason.

Albany Empire

On November 7, 2017, Keefe was named the head coach of the AFL 2018 expansion team in Albany later named the Albany Empire. He led the team to a victory in Arena Bowl XXXII in their second season. The Arena Football League, and all its teams, folded after the season. In 2020, a new Albany Empire was launched in the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

to begin play in the 2021 season, with Keefe announced as the inaugural coach. He resigned on April 12, 2021, before ever coaching a game for the new team due to disagreements with the new owners. The next day, he was hired by the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

of the

to be the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Les Moss, who had been Keefe's assistant in Albany.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keefe, Rob 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Springfield, Virginia American football defensive backs Mercyhurst Lakers football players Spokane Shock players Philadelphia Soul players Spokane Shock coaches Utah Blaze coaches Orlando Predators coaches Albany Empire (AFL) coaches Players of American football from Fairfax County, Virginia