Frank Okam is in his second season as the defensive line coach at the University of Toledo.
In his first season, Okam’s D-line helped the Rockets lead the league with 39 sacks and 262 sack yards. Judge Culpepper (first team) and Darius Alexander (third team) were each named All-MAC. Culpepper was third in the the league with 9.0 sacks and tied for ninth with 10.5 tackles for loss. Alexander added 36 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and 4.0 sacks on the season. D’Andre Ragin also turned in 41 tackles, 8.0 TFLs and 5.0 sacks, tied for the ninth-most sacks in the MAC.
Okam most recently served as the defensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 and for the Carolina Panthers in 2020-21. A former NFL defensive lineman who was an All-American at the University of Texas, Okam also has college coaching experience at Rice and Baylor.
Okam began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Rice from 2014-15 before moving into a full-time position as the defensive line coach in 2016-17. While at Rice, Okam coached five players who went on to play in the NFL: Christian Covington, Brian Womac, Preston Gordon, Myles Adams and Elijah Garcia. Womac made first-team all-conference in 2017 while leading Conference USA in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (22).
Okam next coached for two seasons at Baylor, where the Bears won the Texas Bowl in 2018 and shattered the school record with 46 sacks in 2019. Okam mentored James Lynch, who was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American while setting the school record with 13.5 sacks in 2019. Lynch was one of five Bears who went on to play in the NFL, the others being Ira Savage-Lewis, Greg Roberts, James Lockhart and Bravvion Roy.
Okam then moved to the NFL ranks, coaching with the Carolina Panthers for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before joining the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. At Carolina, Okam helped coach a defensive that was second in the NFL in yards allowed (305.9) in 2021. For the Raiders in 2022, Okam coached defensive end Maxx Crosby, who finished sixth in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year while setting career highs in tackles, sacks, tackles for loss (NFL high 22) and QB hits.
Okam played his college football at the University of Texas, where he earned All-Big 12 and All-America honors in 2006 and 2007. He was a first-team Freshman All-America selection by the Sporting News in 2004. Okam was also part of a Longhorns team that went 13-0 and won the 2006 BCS National Title with a 41-38 win over USC.
Okam was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played for Houston, Seattle, Tampa bay and the New York Giants before retiring in 2013.
Okam earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Texas in 2007 and his master’s degree in liberal studies from Rice in 2017.
Okam and his wife Megan have a son, Jadon, who was born in August of 2022.
Frank Okam's Coaching Experience
2023-24 Toledo – Defensive Line
2022 Las Vegas Raiders (NFL) – Defensive Line
2020-21 Carolina Panthers (NFL) - Defensive Line
2018-19 Baylor - Defensive Line
2016-17 Rice - Defensive Line
2014-15 Rice - Graduate Assistant
