Now here's a job announcement you don't see every day
On Monday, Mark Atuaia was among five assistants formally hired by Washington State. The former running backs coach for Bronco Mendenhall at BYU and Virginia, he'll coach the same position in Pullman.
Atuaia's journey to Pullman is a long and interesting one. A former Cougar running back himself in the mid-90s, he returned to BYU as a student assistant in 2005. After graduating from BYU's law school and earning a master's in public administration, he went to work for the athletics department as the assistant AD for student services. He became the running backs coach the following year.
"Mark has a proven track record of recruiting and developing some of the toughest RB rooms in the country," said Cougars head coach Jake Dickert. "His passion and energy are easy to see and I believe our players will excel with his coaching style."
Atuaia's wife, Elizabeth, was a member of the 1980s pop group The Jets, a family band of eight brothers and sisters. Here they are performing "Crush on You" from their platinum-selling, self-titled debut album. It simply does not get more 1980s than this.
Turns out, Mom's not the only member of the Atuaia household with some musical talent.
To celebrate his move from Charlottesville to Pullman, Mark and some of the couple's seven children put together a video for this original number.
Props to Coach Atuaia. Many of us do not have the talent or the cojones to share this with the world.
