Shaun C. Nua (born May 22, 1981) is a former

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

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

and current football coach. He played college football at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

in the seventh round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also hel ...

. Nua is currently the defensive line coach for the

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Ath ...

team.

Early years

Nua was born in

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island ...

, the capital city of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internation ...

– an

unincorporated territory of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...

located in the South Pacific Ocean. He was the second oldest of six children born to Sao and Usu Nua, a farmer and nurse, respectively. Nua attended

Tafuna High School Tafuna High School (THS) is a public high school located in the village of Tafuna, Tuālāuta County, Western District, American Samoa. It is one of the 6 public high schools under the jurisdiction of the American Samoa Department of Education ...

Tafuna, American Samoa Tafuna ( sm, Tāfuna) is a village on the east coast of Tutuila Island Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain o ...

. As a senior, he earned All-League honors as a defensive end, however he suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

. Nua moved to the Hawaiian island of Oahu to live with an aunt for six months while recovering from his knee injury. From there, he moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

to live with his sister, who was an undergraduate student at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

College career

Nua first attended

Eastern Arizona College Eastern Arizona College (EAC), is a community college in Graham County, Arizona. The main campus is in Thatcher, with satellite locations in Gila County, and Greenlee County. It is the oldest community college in Arizona and the only communit ...

, a junior college in

Graham County, Arizona Graham County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,533, making it the third-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Safford. Graham County composes the ...

. Eastern Arizona assistant football coach and BYU alum (and current BYU head football coach)

Kalani Sitake Kelaokalani Fifita "Kalani" Sitake (born October 10, 1975) is a Tongan Americans, Tongan–American American football, football coach and former player. He has been the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) since December 2015, ...

was instrumental in steering Nua towards a Division 1 scholarship at BYU. Nua

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2003 before returning in the 2004 season and earning second-team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

honors as a senior. He ultimately appeared in 22 games, posting 54 tackles (30 solo, 24 assist) and 10 sacks in his career at BYU. Nua graduated from BYU in 2005 with a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in youth and family recreation, and later earned his

master’s degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from BYU in recreation management in 2013.

Professional career

Nua was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

. He would spend the next three seasons on the Steelers offseason roster and practice squad, earning a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers championship in 2006. In 2008, Nua was signed to a future/reserve contract with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, however he was released before the season.

Coaching career

Following his stint in the NFL, Nua returned to his alma mater as a defensive

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 ...

on the staff of BYU head coach

Bronco Mendenhall Marc Bronco Clay Mendenhall (born February 21, 1966) is an American football coach who most recently coached at The University of Virginia. He stepped down after the 2021 season. Mendenhall joined Virginia in 2015 after spending the previous ele ...

from 2009-2011. Nua helped the Cougars achieve the nation's 24th-best total defense in 2010 and the 13th-ranked defense in 2011. BYU won its bowl games both years while finishing the 2011 season ranked No. 25 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll with a 10-3 record. On January 26, 2012 Nua joined the coaching staff of

Ken Niumatalolo Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022, accumulating the most wins in program history. Niumatalolo played college football at ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

as defensive line coach. On January 7, 2018 Nua joined the coaching staff of

Herm Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phi ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U ...

as defensive line coach. On January 17, 2019, Nua joined the coaching staff of

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He pla ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

as defensive line coach. Nua signed a two-year employment agreement that pays him an annual salary of $400,000.

Personal

Nua and his wife Hilary have three children: Losi, Kelina, and Malia. Nua is cousin to BYU Softball All-American and Hall of Famer Ianeta Le'i, and BYU Volleyball All-American and National Team member Futi Tavana.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nua, Shaun 1981 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Buffalo Bills players BYU Cougars football players BYU Cougars football coaches Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters football players Michigan Wolverines football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers players USC Trojans football coaches People from Pago Pago Players of American football from American Samoa American sportspeople of Samoan descent