After five sporadic seasons with the Vandals, University of Idaho offensive coordinator Steve Axman officially announced his retirement from coaching on Monday.
“At the age of 64½, my wife and I are closing in on our retirement goals,” said Axman. “We thought this might be as good a time as any to go on with the next stage of my life.”
Axman joined the coaching staff in 2007 when Coach Robb Akey first took over the Vandals in the wake of Dennis Erickson’s departure to Arizona State. The hiring was by no coincidence as Akey spent four seasons as an assistant at Northern Arizona University where Axmen was the team’s head coach in the 1990s.
“It was a pleasure to have worked with my friend Robb Akey on the other end of the head coach/assistant coach relationship,” Axmen said. “We had a lot of fun together. We certainly had good times here at the University of Idaho.”
“I appreciate Coach Axman’s hard work and effort,” Akey said in response to the retirement of his colleague, friend, and sometimes opponent for almost two decades. “We have had some great times together. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Axmen’s coaching journey first started in 1973 at MacArthur High School in his home state of New York. From there, he got his first taste of college ball the following year at East Stroudsburg State. Over the course of his career, Axmen coached at variety of schoolsincluding Army, Illinois, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Maryland, Northern Arizona, Minnesota, Washington, Montana and Idaho.
While at Idaho, Axmen was considered for the 2009 Frank Broyles award for the top assistant coach in the nation and helped former Vandal turned Chicago Bear Nathan Enderle to have one of the best careers for a quarterback at Idaho.
“It was very special to have had the opportunity to coach Nate Enderle for four years and see him grow into an athlete who was able to move on to the NFL,” said Axman.
Axmen’s retirement doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many fans within Vandal Nation. The team struggled all year offensively to produce and rebuild after the loss of Enderle and a cavalcade of other key players. The Vandals nationally ranked 89th in passing, 103rd rushing, and 107th in points per game this past season. The frustration that came as a result of the team’s offensive woes had caused rumblings of Axmen’s future with the team as early as the start of October. By the time the season came to a close, it was apparent that the Axmen era at Idaho was coming to an end.
Although he might not be a coach anymore, Axmen will now have some time to focus on his hobby of writing. He has written 12 books on coaching with his 13th on slated to be released in the early part of 2012.
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