Washington State adds ex-South Carolina assistant Kyle Krantz as special teams coordinator

Theo Lawson, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—A longtime SEC assistant has joined Nick Rolovich's coaching staff as Washington State's new special teams coordinator.

The Cougars announced Friday the addition of Kyle Krantz, who comes to the Pac-12 after spending the previous five years under Will Muschamp at the University of South Carolina, most recently as a special teams coordinator and defensive backs assistant.

The Cougars announced other staff additions and changes , hiring three recruiting assistants — Josh Omura, Marco Regalado and Samie Parker — as well as strength and conditioning assistant Scott Salwasser.

Cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator John Richardson added assistant head coach to his title and offensive coordinator Brian Smith received the title of associate head coach.

Despite the staff additions, Rolovich is working with the same assistant coach salary pool he inherited in 2020 upon becoming WSU's coach.

Krantz, a native of Denver, is 34 years old but has spent 12 years in the coaching profession, including 10 seasons in the SEC. His most recent stint came with the Gamecocks, where he started as a defensive analyst before moving into an on-field position in 2018. Krantz was special teams assistant while coaching the nickel DBs and "Sam" linebackers for two seasons (2018-19) before being elevated to special teams coordinator.

"Coach Krantz was extremely impressive throughout the interview process and his references spoke of him as a grinder on the recruiting trail and also a guy who loves coaching college football," Rolovich said in a school release.

"He has spent many years around some of the best college football coaches in the country and bringing those experiences here will benefit our program. He will be a great fit with our philosophy here at Washington State and I'm excited for he and his family to join the Pullman community."

Krantz also worked alongside Muschamp in 2013 and '14 at the University of Florida, then again in 2015 as a defensive analyst for Gus Malzahn at Auburn. His first stint in the SEC came from 2011-12 as a graduate assistant at the University of Kentucky.

Krantz replaces Michael Ghobrial, who left the Cougars after one season for a special teams assistant position with the NFL's New York Jets.

After previously working with Rolovich at Hawaii as the director of recruiting and operations, Omura joins the Cougars as the director of transfer recruiting. Regalado most recently coached the running backs and worked as the recruiting coordinator at V.R. Eaton High School in Texas. Parker, a record-setting wide receiver at Oregon from 2000-03 who spent four years in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, coached the receivers, tight ends and returners for The Spring League Aviators in San Antonio. Salwassar comes to WSU after working as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for South Carolina in 2020.