CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard football adds Paul Amakihe to the staff as a new assistant coach. Amakihe will oversee the Crimson's linebacker group heading into the 2026 season, arriving to Harvard with a plethora of coaching experience with his most recent stops at Sacred Heart and Dayton.

Amakihe arrives to Crimson after spending the 2025 campaign with Sacred Heart as the Pioneers' linebackers coach. Under Amakihe's direction, junior linebacker Kyle Hall ranked third on the team in both solo tackles (29) and total tackles (48), as Hall also ended the year with 3.0 tackles for a loss and one sack. With Amakihe's mentorship, Sacred Heart finished the year with an 8-4, matching the highest win total of the decade for the Pioneers.

The 2023 and 2024 seasons saw Amakihe play a key role in the success of Dayton's football program. Coaching the linebacker group, Amakihe was a key contributor in constructing a Dayton defense that led the Football Championship Subdivision in total defense (242.9 YPG), third down conversion percentage (.262) and passing defense (122.9 YPG) in 2024.

Under Amakihe's mentorship, Gideon Lampron earned FCS All-America First Team honors from the Associated Press and Walter Camp after tallying 99 total tackles in 11 starts and leading the nation in tackles for loss per game (2.1). During the 2023 season, Amakihe also guided Sam Schmiesing to Phil Steele All-PFL Third honors after tallying 80 total tackles and 8 tackles for a loss.

Before his tenures at Sacred Heart and Dayton, Amakihe served various roles at Carnegie Mellon, Wilkes University, McDaniel College and SUNY Cortland. Amakihe graduated from William & Mary in 2016 with a bachelor's of science degree in kinesiology. As a student-athlete, Amakihe spent two seasons at linebacker for the Tribe's football program.