Robb Akey - Football Coach - Central Michigan University Athletics

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

Robb Akey

Title:
Defensive Coordinator
E-Mail Address:
akey1r@cmich.edu
Phone:
(989) 774-3896
Year at CMU:
6th year at CMU
Hometown:
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Alma Mater/Year:
Weber State/1988
Experience:
35th year

Known for his tough and aggressive defensive play, Defensive Coordinator Robb Akey has helped turn the Central Michigan program around in his five seasons on head coach Jim McElwain’s coaching staff.

A veteran with more than 30 years in the coaching profession, Akey has built an efficient, dependable, aggressive, and attacking defense constructed on toughness, improved athleticism, and superb game-planning.

In 2023, CMU registered 20 sacks and 57 tackles for loss. Defenders Jacques Bristol, Donte Kent both earned Second Team All-MAC honors, while Kyle Moretti was a Third Team All-MAC selection.

In 2022, the CMU defense ranked among the Mid-American Conference’s top-5 in five different statistical categories. The Chippewas ranked No. 3 nationally and led the MAC in team tackles for loss (8.2 per game) and ranked No. 23 in red zone defense and led the MAC in red zone defense (77.3). In addition, the Chippewas ranked second in the MAC in third down percentage defense (No. 19 nationally, 33 percent), defensive touchdowns (2), and sacks (2.67 per game).

Senior defensive end Thomas Incoom finished the year ranked among the top national players in three different categories: No. 4 in sacks (0.96 per game), No. 5 in tackles for loss (1.6 per game), and No. 22 in fumble recoveries (2). Cornerback Donte Kent finished No. 8 nationally in passes defended (1.4 per game) and linebacker Kyle Moretti ranked No. 26 nationally in solo tackles (5.0 per game). Incoom and Kent both earned First Team All-MAC honors, while Moretti was a Third Team pick.

Akey guided a defensive unit that in 2021 that finished fourth in the Mid-American Conference in total defense as CMU posted a 9-4 record and shared the Mid-American Conference West championship with a 6-2 mark in league games. Akey’s defense flexed its muscles in the Chippewas’ 24-21 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl victory over Washington State, registering five sacks and limiting the Cougars to 25 yards rushing while delivering CMU’s first bowl victory since 2012 and its first win over a Power 5 opponent since 2017.

Akey’s defense led the nation in team tackles for loss (8.2 per game) and No. 4 nationally in team sacks (3.31 per game) and ranked No. 6 nationally third down percentage defense (29.8 percent). The Chippewas shared the MAC lead with 43 sacks and was tough against the run, limiting opponents to a league-best 118.5 yards per game on the ground. Akey’s defense ranked second in the conference in third-down conversions allowed and third in opponent fourth-down conversions.

Individually, three of Akey’s defensive players earned All-MAC honors in 2021, including defensive end Troy Hairston II, who ranked third in the league in tackles-for-loss and fifth in sacks. Chippewas cornerback Donte Kent, who tied for second in the MAC in passes defended, was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team.

Akey’s 2020 defense ranked No. 1 in the MAC with eight interceptions and finished second in the league with 18 sacks. Defensive end Troy Hairston II led the league in both sacks and tackles-for-loss in earning the co-MAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. He became the first Chippewa since 2005 to be named the league’s top defender.

In 2019, Akey’s defense ranked second in the MAC in total defense as the Chippewas won the MAC West and earned a spot in the MAC Championship Game for the first time since 2009. The Chippewas closed with a berth in the New Mexico Bowl. His defense ranked No. 7 nationally in tackles for loss per game and either led the MAC or finished second and ranked among the nation’s top-25 in third down efficiency, interceptions, and rushing defense.

Akey is an integral member of a coaching staff that inherited a CMU program that won one game in 2018 and transformed it immediately into a winner, as the Chippewas finished 8-6 in 2019. The seven-win improvement was the best among Football Bowl Subdivision programs in 2019.

Akey has served as both a head coach and as an assistant on the professional and collegiate levels since 1989.

Akey served under McElwain as the defensive line coach at Florida in 2017 and before that, spent three seasons in the National Football League, including two with Washington Redskins, where he helped the franchise to a divisional championship in 2015.

As a head coach, Akey led Idaho to an 8-5 record and a victory in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl. It marked the most wins for Idaho in 11 years, and marked just the second bowl victory in program history.

As the defensive coordinator at Washington State, Akey helped coach the Cougars to a Pac-10 championship, two bowl victories, a Rose Bowl berth, and three top-10 finishes in the final Associated Press poll.

As a player, Akey was a First Team All-Big Sky Conference and a Division I-AA honorable mention All-American as a linebacker/defensive end at Weber State in 1987. He was the Wildcats career co-leader in sacks with 15 when he graduated. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Weber State in 1988.

Akey and his wife Molly have two sons Jack and Daniel. Daniel is a student assistant on the Central Michigan Football Coaching Staff.

THE AKEY FILE

Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.

Family
Wife Molly, sons Jack and Daniel

Education
Bachelor of Arts, Weber State, 1988

Coaching Career
Defensive Coordinator, Central Michigan University, 2019-current
Defensive Line Coach, University of Florida, 2017
Defensive Line Coach, Washington Redskins, 2015-16
Assistant Defensive Line Coach, Minnesota Vikings, 2014
Head Coach, University of Idaho, 2007-12
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach, Washington State University, 1999-06
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Northern Arizona University, 1995-98
Defensive Line Coach/Special Teams Coordinator, Weber State University, 1989-94

Playing Career
First Team All-Big Sky Conference and NCAA Division I-AA honorable mention All-American as a linebacker/defensive end at Weber State in 1987 … Played at Weber State from 1984-87 … Graduated from Roy J. Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.