Robert Anae

Early life and playing career

Anae grew up in Laie, Hawai'i and graduated from Kahuku High School. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1978 to 1980. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) and played on the BYU Cougars football team, switching from center to offensive guard. He was part of the 1984 National Championship team, and also played in the Holiday Bowl each year from 1981 to 1984, as part of four Western Athletic Conference championship squads at BYU. Anae was second-team All-Western Athletic Conference as a senior and played in the Hula Bowl before being drafted in the third round of the USFL Draft by the New Jersey Generals.

Coaching career

Anae began as offensive line coach at University of Hawaii in 1986 and continued through the next year. He came back to BYU for 1990 and 1991 as an offensive line graduate assistant and followed up at Ricks College from 1992 through 1995 as its offensive line coach. He coached offensive line at Boise State University in 1996, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1997 and 1998, and Texas Tech University from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, he returned to BYU where he served as offensive coordinator until his resignation Dec. 30, 2010. Anae served the 2011-12 season as the offensive line coach and running game coordinator at the University of Arizona, under head coaches Mike Stoops and Rich Rodriguez. In January 2013, Anae returned to BYU as the offensive coordinator.

On December 9, 2015, Anae announced that he had accepted the offensive coordinator position at the University of Virginia, following former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall who had been appointed the university's new head football coach.

Personal life

Anae's father, Famika, and brothers, Brad and Matt, also played for BYU. His son, Famika, was a BYU offensive lineman before ending his career due to injures in 2012.