Ronnie Pentz
Special Teams
San Diego ‘08
Fourth Season At SUU
Ronnie
Pentz is in his fourth season as a member of the Thunderbird staff, his third
as special teams co-coordinator and second as tight ends coach.
Last
year, under Coach Pentz guidance, the Thunderbirds ranked second in the naiton
in net punting, averaging 39.08 yards per punt and opponents averaged just 6.28
yards per punt return. In the kicking game Colton Cook ranked 20th in the
nation with 1.27 field goals per game and was perfect in his point after
touchdown percentage, hitting all 27 of his attemps.
SUU's
tight ends also propered last season, as Abbel Aiono earned first-team
all-Great West Conference honors from both the coaches and the media after
catching 28 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns while also serving as a
vital blocker.
In
2010, as coordinator of the kicking game, Coach Pentz oversaw a unit which
ranked 14th in the nation in kickoff return yardage defense. He also coached
redshirt freshman kicker Brock Miller, who showed steady progress throughout
the season, moving from reserve to starter and eventually earning honorable
mention all-Great West Conference honors after leading the team and ranking
35th in the nation in scoring with a 7.0 points per game average.
In
addition to working with the Thunderbird special teams, Coach Pentz works as an
assistant on the defensive side of the ball, primarily with the T-Bird
linebackers.
In
2009 Coach Pentz worked with four-time all-Great West Conference 'backer Robert
Takeno, who led the team with a 98 tackles. Along with Coach Justin Ena, he was
also instrumental in the development of the other Thunderbird linebackers.
A
2008 graduate of the University of San Diego, Coach Pentz was a first-team
all-American as a senior and a two-time first-team all-Pioneer Football League
performer at linebacker for the Toreros. As a senior Pentz was second on the
squad in tackles with 80, including 45 solo stops and 4.5 sacks. He tallied 26
tackles as a junior before an injury cut short his season, had 40 tackles as a
sophomore and 47 as a redshirt freshman.
Coach
Pentz also excelled in the classroom, earning academic all-PFL honors
all four years he played for the Toreros.
Born
in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Pentz prepped at El Toro High in Lake Forest,
Calif., where he was a two-time all-league honoree.
