Magazu Returns To ECU As Safeties Coach
January 02, 2024 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Damon Magazu has been named East Carolina's safeties coach according to an announcement by head coach Mike Houston on Tuesday.
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"We are extremely thrilled to welcome Damon back to Greenville," Houston said. "Not only is he an up and comer in the coaching ranks, but he also knows first-hand of the special bond that exists between Pirate Nation and our program. He is passionate about East Carolina, understands our culture and from a recruiting standpoint I don't think anyone can tell a more compelling story of what it means to be a Pirate."
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Mazagu's appointment to the Pirates' staff ends a three-year stint at UNLV where he helped the Rebels to the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Kansas. This past season, he played a role in the Rebels holding opponents to 415 yards per game, including 239.2 passing yards per contest, and picking off 17 passes on the year. Magazu mentored Mountain West Honorable Mention selection Jaxen Turner, who tallied 59 tackles (31 solo) with 3.0 TFLs (minus 18 yards), four interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles.
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In 2022, his safeties helped UNLV finish 10th in the nation during the regular season with 15 total interceptions, which was the most for the program since 2012. He also tutored Jonathan Baldwin, who won Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week after the season-ending victory over UNR.
Magazu came to Las Vegas in 2020 after spending the previous two seasons at Oklahoma where he helped coach the Sooner secondary as a graduate assistant under head coach Lincoln Riley, who served on the Pirates staff from 2010-14. In his two seasons in Norman, the Sooners twice won the Big 12 Championship, extending their streak to five straight conference titles, and made back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff.
Prior to Oklahoma, Magazu returned to East Carolina serving as a defensive graduate assistant under Houston (2016-17). His distinguished playing career, which began in 2010, included appearances in 50 games (37 starts), 265 tackles and 11 interceptions – none perhaps any bigger than his rookie-year pick against NC State's Russell Wilson in the Pirate endzone which preserved ECU's 33-27 overtime win at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
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The oft-elected team captain was a two-time All-Conference USA selection who was earned the program's defensive player-of-the-year award in 2013, was a Rock Roggeman Heart-of-the-Pirate Award honoree and recipient of the 2014 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Bill Dooley Chapter Outstanding Scholar Athlete Award.
Magazu graduated from ECU in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. While an undergraduate student, he was a multiple Dean's List selection before completing his education with an overall grade point average of 3.30.
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"We are extremely thrilled to welcome Damon back to Greenville," Houston said. "Not only is he an up and comer in the coaching ranks, but he also knows first-hand of the special bond that exists between Pirate Nation and our program. He is passionate about East Carolina, understands our culture and from a recruiting standpoint I don't think anyone can tell a more compelling story of what it means to be a Pirate."
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Mazagu's appointment to the Pirates' staff ends a three-year stint at UNLV where he helped the Rebels to the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Kansas. This past season, he played a role in the Rebels holding opponents to 415 yards per game, including 239.2 passing yards per contest, and picking off 17 passes on the year. Magazu mentored Mountain West Honorable Mention selection Jaxen Turner, who tallied 59 tackles (31 solo) with 3.0 TFLs (minus 18 yards), four interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles.
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In 2022, his safeties helped UNLV finish 10th in the nation during the regular season with 15 total interceptions, which was the most for the program since 2012. He also tutored Jonathan Baldwin, who won Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week after the season-ending victory over UNR.
Magazu came to Las Vegas in 2020 after spending the previous two seasons at Oklahoma where he helped coach the Sooner secondary as a graduate assistant under head coach Lincoln Riley, who served on the Pirates staff from 2010-14. In his two seasons in Norman, the Sooners twice won the Big 12 Championship, extending their streak to five straight conference titles, and made back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff.
Prior to Oklahoma, Magazu returned to East Carolina serving as a defensive graduate assistant under Houston (2016-17). His distinguished playing career, which began in 2010, included appearances in 50 games (37 starts), 265 tackles and 11 interceptions – none perhaps any bigger than his rookie-year pick against NC State's Russell Wilson in the Pirate endzone which preserved ECU's 33-27 overtime win at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
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The oft-elected team captain was a two-time All-Conference USA selection who was earned the program's defensive player-of-the-year award in 2013, was a Rock Roggeman Heart-of-the-Pirate Award honoree and recipient of the 2014 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Bill Dooley Chapter Outstanding Scholar Athlete Award.
Magazu graduated from ECU in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. While an undergraduate student, he was a multiple Dean's List selection before completing his education with an overall grade point average of 3.30.
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