Robert Alan Phenicie (born March 4, 1966) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is the assistant head football coach and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach at

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. Previously, Phenicie was the head coach at

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

. He was named the head coach in March 2017, staying until his firing, following the 2021 season. Phenicie's other coaching stops took him to the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC, Valley College, or Valley) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, ...

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as o ...

, the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

and

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

Coaching career

Following Phenicie's graduation from

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, he pursued his master's degree while serving as an offensive

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

football team from 1989–1991. He then went to

, also as an offensive

in 1991 and 1992. He then coached the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

s at

through the 1996 season. From there, Phenicie moved on to be the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for two seasons (1997–1998). He also coached the

s and the

s. In 1999, Phenicie was an assistant at

. Phenicie then moved on to

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, serving as the

s coach and recruiting coordinator from 2000–2002. He also added co-offensive coordinator duties for the 2002 season. In 2003, Phenicie joined the

coaching staff as

and

s coach. He helped head coach

Bobby Hauck Robert Lawrence Hauck (born June 14, 1964) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Montana, a position he held from 2003 to 2009 and resumed before the 2018 season. Hauck was also the head footbal ...

lead the Grizzlies to three national championship game appearances. In 2010, he made his second stop at

. This time, Phenicie stayed five years. He was the

in 2010 and 2011, coached the

s from 2010–2012, and coached the

s in 2013 and 2014. Phenicie then joined the Idaho State coaching staff as the assistant head coach for offense and

s coach in 2015. Following the 2016 season, Phenicie was promoted to

, but soon after left to take a position on the

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

coaching staff. A week later, Idaho State head coach,

Mike Kramer Michael David Kramer (born July 25, 1954) is a former American football coach and former player, most recently the head football coach at Idaho State Bengals football, Idaho State University of the Big Sky Conference. Kramer was previously the h ...

, retired. The next day, a week before spring practices were set to begin, Phenicie was named the head coach at Idaho State. Phenicie's original contract was a two-year deal, and made him the head coach for the 2017 season, and guaranteed that he would remain on staff as at least the

in the second year. In December 2017, Phenicie was rewarded with a new contract, nearly doubling his salary, and making him the permanent head coach. Following his time at Idaho State, Phenicie returned to

as an offensive analyst. After a year back at Montana, where Phenicie helped lead the Grizzlies back to the FCS Play-offs, he was hired by Dave Cecchini and the

Bucknell Bison football The Bucknell Bison football team represents Bucknell University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) level. Bucknell is a member of the Patriot League. Bucknell won the first ...

program as the team's new offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.

Playing career

Phenicie began his college playing career as a

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in 1984. He then transferred to

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a Public college, public community college in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Ar ...

for a year, and then moved on to

. He played in 11 games and caught four passes for 50 yards in 1987 for the Tigers.

Personal life

Phenicie received his bachelor's degree in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from the

in 1989 and his master's degree in Athletic Administration from the

in 1991. He and his wife, Jennifer, have one daughter, Meghen.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phenicie, Rob 1966 births Living people American football tight ends Cal State Northridge Matadors football coaches Idaho State Bengals football coaches Los Angeles Valley Monarchs football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Memphis Tigers football players Montana Grizzlies football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Orange Coast Pirates football players Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Huntington Beach, California UCLA Bruins football coaches UNLV Rebels football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches