Former KU football assistant wins Super Bowl LVI with L.A. Rams

By Matt Tait     Feb 13, 2022

Contributed photo
Former KU graduate assistant, now the offensive line coach with the Los Angeles Rams, is shown here with his wife, Emily, and their children, Frank and Elizabeth, following the Rams' win over San Francisco in the NFC Championship game. Carberry and the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, to win Super Bowl LVI.

Plenty was made about the three former Jayhawks in the Cincinnati Bengals locker room for Super Bowl LVI, but there was another one-time Jayhawk on the other side who walked away with a ring.

Former KU graduate assistant Kevin Carberry completed his first year with the Los Angeles Rams as a world champion.

The Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 in Los Angeles. Former Jayhawks Hakeem Adeniji, who started at right guard, and practice squad Pooka Williams Jr., were on the Bengals’ roster, with former KU punter Darrin Simmons coaching Cincinnati’s special teams.

Carberry coaches the Rams’ offensive line, which did just enough in Sunday’s Super Bowl to allow Matt Stafford and Cooper Kupp to hook up for the game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes of the Rams’ win.

A four-year letterman at Ohio during his playing days, Carberry earned All-MAC honors as senior team captain. The former defensive lineman graduated from Ohio in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He earned his master’s in sports administration from KU in 2010 and coached at Kansas from 2009-11, under both Mark Mangino and Turner Gill.

After leaving KU following the 2011 season, Carberry coached defensive ends at Stephen F. Austin for two seasons (2012-13) before jumping to the NFL. He worked as an offensive assistant with the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 and 2015 and was the assistant offensive line coach with Washington in 2016 and 2017.

He jumped back into college coaching in 2018, serving as the run game coordinator/offensive line coach at Stanford for three seasons before joining the Rams to work for head coach Sean McVay.

McVay and Carberry worked together on the Washington staff in 2016 under Jay Gruden. McVay was the offensive coordinator and Carberry worked with the O-Line.

Not only does Carberry’s resume include a line for Kansas, but his wife, the former Emily Martin, is also former KU rower who was an assistant rowing coach with the Jayhawks after graduating. She also is a native Kansan, having grown up in Wellington.

Mangino, who congratulated Carberry on Twitter following Sunday’s Super Bowl win, took a minute to share with the Journal-World his memories of bringing Carberry to Kansas. The assist for the pairing went to former KU offensive coordinator Ed Warinner.

“I remember when Ed asked me to interview Kevin for a vacant GA position. After five minutes, I knew he was the guy,” Mangino told the Journa-World on Sunday night. “He always approached his responsibilities with great enthusiasm and detail. He’s also a likable and considerate person, which made him a good fit. We are very proud of him.”

PREV POST

Holly Kersgieter scores 1,000th point as KU women's basketball holds off K-State

NEXT POST

56533Former KU football assistant wins Super Bowl LVI with L.A. Rams

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.