Chris Klenakis - Football Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Chris Klenakis

Title:
Assistant Coach/Offensive Line
Email:
chrisk@GoCards.com
Phone:
852-6325

Chris Klenakis joined the Louisville staff in January of 2014 and serves as the team's tight ends coach.

In 2017, Klenakis saw oversaw a unit that recorded 48 catches for 572 yards and five touchdowns. Charles Standberry led the way by posting career highs for receptions, yards and touchdowns. Standberry finished fourth on the squad with 29 catches for 306 yards and four touchdowns.

Before taking over the tight ends, Klenakis served as the team's offensive line coach from 2013-16, and saw the Cardinals rush for 3,148 yards in 2016 -- the second-best total in school history. He tutored offensive tackle Geron Christian to a pair of all-conference seasons.

During the 2015 season, Klenakis demonstrated his best coaching job by guiding a trio of freshmen up front. Christian, who was named an all-league honorable mention, was the only linemen to start all 13 games and was a key performer in the improvement of the offense toward the end of the year.

Taking over the offensive line in 2014, Klenakis had three of his charges earn all-ACC honors and each made it on to NFL rosters. Jamon Brown, a second team all-ACC honoree, was a third-round pick of St. Louis, while John Miller, a third team all-conference performer, was also a third-pound selection of Buffalo. All-ACC honorable mention, Jake Smith signed a free-agent deal with Cincinnati.

Over the course of his career, Klenakis has shown the ability to develop talent, tutoring 24 offensive linemen who have advanced to the NFL. As offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, he has tutored 18 all-conference selections, including 2010 first-team All-SEC performer DeMarcus Love. Klenakis has coached in 13 bowl games and in two NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

Before coming to Louisville, Klenakis spent one season at Iowa State. The Cyclones’ tallied consecutive 500-yard games of total offense for the first time since 1989, achieving the feat in the final two games against Kansas and West Virginia. The Cyclones finished the season with the 10th-most points in school history, and were one of the most efficient teams in the red zone, converting on 90 percent of their chances for a No. 17 national ranking.

Prior to his stint at Iowa State, Klenakis served as the offensive line coach for three seasons (2010-12) at Arkansas. The Razorbacks flourished with Klenakis directing the offensive line. The Razorbacks allowed the third fewest sacks in the SEC in 2012 and the pass offense was also third. Travis Swanson was named as an all-conference offensive lineman.

In 2010, the Razorbacks led the SEC in passing offense, scoring offense, and total offense in earning the school’s first-ever BCS appearance after finishing 10-2 overall. That season, the Razorbacks set records for passing yards (4,061), touchdown passes (34), and total yards (5,871).

Klenakis’ offensive line had replaced three starters from 2010 and featured two players who made their first starts of their collegiate career in 2011 to block for an offense that set or tied 16 school records. Arkansas led the SEC in passing offense (300.7), total offense (438.1), and scoring offense (36.8) to become just the fifth different school to lead the conference in all three categories in a single season and the first since Florida in 2001.

Before his successful stint at Arkansas, Klenakis served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Nevada for six seasons. Nevada’s 2005 WAC championship team led the nation in time of possession and ranked eighth in the NCAA in third-down conversions. In 2004, his first year at Nevada, he coached All-WAC performer and St. Louis Rams tackle Harvey Dahl.

At Nevada, he was at the helm of the “Pistol” offense that was prolifically productive, featuring a powerful running game led by the offensive line and, from 2007-09, current San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

In 2008 at Nevada, the Wolf Pack offense steamrolled over opposing defenses to the tune of a number of school records, including total offense, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. In 2009, Klenakis and the offense eclipsed all those marks.

Klenakis was the first coordinator in NCAA Division I history to coach an offense that led the nation in rushing (2009) and passing (1997) during his career.

The Wolf Pack had three 1,000-yard rushers during their record-setting 2009 season, the only school in NCAA history to feature a trio of players to reach the 1,000-yard mark on the ground.

Prior to his stint as offensive coordinator at Nevada, he was offensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi (2000-02) and spent one year at Central Missouri (2003).

Klenakis helped Central Missouri finish the 2003 campaign with a 9-2 record and a share of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title for the first time since 1988. Central ranked second among all NCAA Division II schools in scoring offense (41.5 points per game) and was 25th in rushing offense.

The former two-time Nevada High School Coach of the Year earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and history from Carroll College in 1986, where he was a four-year letterwinner as an outside linebacker. In 1992, he completed his master’s of exercise physiology at Nevada.

Klenakis and his wife Louise are parents to Myles, Matthew, Nikos, Lucy, Mark and Elizabeth.