Kaufusi, Empey and Tafisi named to BYU football staff

PROVO, Utah – BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake announced three more members of his staff today, naming Steve Kaufusi as defensive line coach, Mike Empey as offensive line coach and Nu‘u Tafisi as football strength and conditioning coach.

“I’m pleased to announce Steve, Mike and Nu‘u as members of our football staff,” Sitake said. “Establishing the line of scrimmage is very important and I’m confident Steve and Mike will help us do that. Nu‘u gets the most out of his athletes and I know he will help our team be tough and prepared. I’m excited to have him leading our strength and conditioning program.”

Kaufusi remains at BYU entering his 15^th consecutive year with the program coaching the defensive line. Empey rejoins the staff after spending the 2000-04 seasons with the program coaching offensive tackles and tight ends. Tafisi comes to BYU after working with USC, Utah, Boise State and Cal’s strength and conditioning programs.

Kaufusi has been at BYU since 2002 and has more than two decades of coaching experience. Most recently, he coached a defensive line group that combined for 19.5 sacks in 2015 and helped BYU set a new season high for sacks with 40. BYU’s rush defense has been in the top 20 nationally five times since 2007.

“I’m grateful and excited to coach here at BYU,” Kaufusi said. “Coach Sitake is a leader and has a great vision for the program and I am happy to be a part of it.”

The Salt Lake City native coached defensive end Bronson Kaufusi to his best season, leading the Cougars with 11.0 sacks and 20.0 tackles for loss. With 26.5 career sacks, he finished his Cougar career No. 3 in career sacks since 2000. Jan Jorgensen was a four-year starter under Kaufusi from 2006-09 and finished with 30 career sacks, BYU’s career leader since 2000 in officially recognized NCAA stats. Jorgensen was a three-time All-Mountain West honoree. Kaufusi also coached No. 5 NFL draft pick and Pro Bowler Ezekiel Ansah along with Super Bowl winner Brady Poppinga (2001-04) and All-MW first teamer Vic So’oto  (2005-10) while at BYU.

Prior to BYU, Kaufusi was at the University of Utah for eight seasons. He began as a graduate assistant in 1994 and later served as defensive line and defensive ends coach over the next seven seasons.

Kaufusi was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1992 after his college career at BYU and Dixie College. He earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU in recreation management and served an LDS mission to Tonga. He and his wife Michelle have five children.

With more than 11 years of college coaching experience, Empey has been a position coach at BYU and UNLV along with being a head coach at Snow College. Most recently, Empey has been working with American Fork High School football including three years as the Cavemen offensive coordinator from 2012-14, helping them to the state title game in 2014 and an 11-3 record. He has also been working as an operations manger and trauma sales manager at Stryker Corporation for the past five years.

Empey, a former BYU offensive lineman (1987, 91-93), returns to the Cougars to work under offensive coordinator and former teammate Ty Detmer. He protected Detmer as an offensive tackle during Detmer’s senior season in 1991. Empey was a four-year letterwinner for the Cougars, earning All-WAC academic honors as a junior and senior. He served as a team captain as a senior and earned All-Conference recognition in 1993. Empey helped take the Cougars to four-straight bowl games and signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to come back to BYU and grateful to work with Coach Sitake and Ty,” Empey said. “We’ve been friends for many years and this is the kind of environment and culture that I want to coach in.”

The Pocatello, Idaho native previously served on the BYU staff for a total of eight seasons. Empey worked four of those seasons under LaVell Edwards, including three as a graduate assistant. His first year as a full-time assistant in 2000, he worked with tight ends and offensive tackles, then exclusively with tight ends through the 2004 season. Empey worked with NFL draft picks Tevita Ofahengaue, Doug Jolley, Spencer Nead, Dustin Rykert and Dennis Pitta along with free agents Daniel Coats and Gabe Reid.

Prior to coaching at BYU, Empey was the head football coach at Snow College for the 1999 season. In his one season at Snow, Empey led the Badgers to a 7-3 record, leading the nation in passing offense. Empey also coached the tight ends at UNLV for two seasons in 1997 and 1998. He went to UNLV after working as graduate assistant for three seasons at BYU from 1994-96. He worked with the linebackers, defensive and offensive lines while a graduate assistant at BYU.

Empey served an LDS Church mission to San Jose, California, (1988-90) and is married to the former Stephanie Wright from Saratoga, California. The couple has four children.

Tafisi comes to BYU after spending time as a strength and conditioning assistant coach at USC in 2015 and as an assistant at Utah from 2012-14. He was a graduate assistant at Boise State in 2011 and interned with the University of California in 2010. 

“It’s a dream come true to be here at BYU,” Tafisi said. “I love working with these young players and being with them in the weight room to get them ready for game day.”

An East High School alum, Tafisi attended Mt. San Antonio Junior College in Walnut, California. He was a JC All-American as a defensive lineman in 2004 after totaling 16 sacks and 23 tackles for loss. 

Tafisi went on to play two seasons at the University of California Berkeley where he was a two-time second-team All-Pac-10 selection in 2005-06. He started 24 of 25 games as a defensive end for the Bears, totaling 70 tackles and nine sacks in his two seasons. Tafisi was awarded the team’s Joe Roth Award for courage, attitude and sportsmanship as a senior. 

Tafisi was a member of the 2005 Cal team that played BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. He signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks and spent two seasons with the team.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cal in 2006 and a master's degree in kinesiology from Boise State in 2013. He served a mission to Western and American Samoa from 2000-02. He and his wife have two children.