RENO, Nev. - Nevada Football head coach Jeff Choate announced the first members of his Wolf Pack coaching staff Monday.

Kane Ioane, a former All-America safety at Montana State who served as defensive coordinator of Choate's 2019 Bobcat team, will take on the same role for the Wolf Pack in 2023. David Gilbertson, a quarterback on the 2012 Washington State team for which Choate served on staff, will oversee Nevada's wide receivers and quarterbacks units.

"One of the hallmarks of this Nevada staff is that, with rare exception, these are people that I know personally, have worked with as a coach, or have coached them during my career. I pick my coaches on character first. This was very important as I put this first group together. They know me, I know them, and we know how we communicate in order to get this thing off the ground. This will accelerate the timeline of what we want to accomplish at Nevada," Choate said about the incoming Nevada staff.

"This staff is a really good mix of experience both as players and as coaches. It is a good mix of veteran coaches and young up-and-comers. This will create good energy on staff, and our players will really connect with these men."

The Wolf Pack will be announcing its 2023 staff over the coming weeks.

Kane Ioane (EYE-own) – Defensive Coordinator
Kane Ioane comes to Nevada from Boise State, where he served as the Broncos' co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach since 2021. Ioane helped oversee one of the Mountain West's top defenses over the past three seasons, culminating in the Broncos' 2023 Mountain West championship. In 2022, the Bronco defense ranked among the nation's best in passing yards allowed (fifth, 167.7 ypg), total defense (sixth, 292.5 ypg), and scoring defense (15th, 19.5 points per game), a season after ranking 12th in the country in scoring defense (19.0 ppg).

"My family and I are extremely excited to join the Nevada Football Family and very grateful for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to reuniting with Coach Choate, and the type of leadership he will provide as we work to fulfill the vision for Wolf Pack Football," Ioane said. "Ultimately, I'm eager to get to work with our entire staff to ensure the development of our student-athletes and help them fulfill their goals both on and off the field. Go Pack!"

Ioane served as defensive coordinator and safeties coach on Choate's 2019 Montana State staff, as the Bobcats went 11-4 and reached the FCS semifinals. That season, defensive end Bryce Sterk and linebacker Troy Andersen earned All-America honors.

Choate on Ioane: "Kane's a guy I've known for a long time. He was a tremendous player at Montana State, cut his teeth in the coaching profession there, and I retained him when I took the job. I have a ton of respect for Kane as a person and as a football coach. Our players will get a sense of his investment in them holistically, not just between the white lines. Kane is one of the most outstanding coaches in the profession and in character, and has a tremendous track record. Defensively, he and I are aligned and in sync with verbiage, system, and philosophy. And he will bring things from his prior stops, and I'll bring things from Texas that will be added to the system, as will other coaches, so I am excited to see what our defensive system will come to be at Nevada."

The Billings, Mont., native began his career at Montana State, his alma mater, in 2005, coaching linebackers. His first stint in Bozeman lasted 12 seasons, including the 2015 campaign when he was the defensive coordinator. He was the defensive analyst for Washington in 2017-18 before returning to Montana State in 2019.

As a position coach, student-athletes mentored by Ioane earned five All-America and 13 all-conference honors. Jody Owens was a two-time unanimous All-Big Sky First Team selection in 2011 and 2012, Big Sky Defensive MVP in 2012 and a Consensus All-American in 2012. In 2019, safety Brayden Konkol was named a second-team All-American as well as to the All-Big Sky First Team.

As a student-athlete, Ioane was a four-time All-American at Montana State (2000-03), the 2003 Big Sky Defensive MVP and a 2014 MSU Hall of Fame inductee. He ended his playing career as the Big Sky's all-time leader in tackles.

Ioane earned his bachelor's degree in education from Montana State in 2005. He and his wife, Kerri, have one daughter, Avah, and one son, Kyson.

David Gilbertson – Wide Receivers/Quarterbacks 
David Gilbertson comes to Nevada after spending the past two seasons (2022-23) as co-pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Akron. Prior to his time at Akron, Gilbertson spent five seasons (2017-21) at Oregon, including four as an offensive analyst.

Two of Akron's wide receivers, Jasaiah Gathings and Daniel George, were named to the All-MAC Second Team in 2023. Gathings paced the Zips with 55 catches for 575 yards and a touchdown, while George hauled in a scoring pass among his 52 receptions for 529 yards.

Choate on Gilbertson: "Gilby is a throwback to my year at Washington State--he was our backup quarterback that season. I knew then that he would get into the coaching profession, so we stayed in touch. He's spent time at Oregon in a variety of roles, including working with their quarterbacks, and recently worked with Joe Moorhead at Akron, and has done really good things with their pass game. What they do will tie in real well with what we plan to do in the run game. And David's an outstanding recruiter—he has built a reputation in our business for doing due diligence and being extremely detailed not only as a coach but as a recruiter. I'm excited to get him back out West, he's an awesome hire for us. Our mix of veteran coaches and younger coaches like David will make for great ideas and great energy in our staff room."

A season prior, Gilbertson tutored Alex Adams to a spot on the All-MAC First Team, becoming just the second Zips wide receiver to earn a spot on the MAC's top team, and first since 2007. Adams made 63 catches for 850 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022, with seven of those scores coming in MAC play. Fellow receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis was named to the All-MAC Third Team, finishing the season with a team bests in receptions (74) and receiving yards (936) with two touchdowns.

"I'm thrilled to be a member of the Nevada Wolf Pack family! Coach Choate is a fantastic leader with great passion and vision for the program," Gilbertson said. "He has been highly successful at every stop of his career, and I'm looking forward to helping him win championships at Nevada."

Gilbertson was an integral part of Oregon's success on offense from 2017-21. The Ducks improved their win total over three consecutive seasons with Gilbertson on staff, while winning back-to-back Pac-12 Conference championships in 2019 and 2020. The Ducks won seven games in his first season, before winning nine games in 2018 before a 12-win season with, a Pac-12 Championship and Rose Bowl title in 2019.

Gilbertson started his coaching career at South Florida, where he spent three seasons (2014-16) working with quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.
In his first year on staff, Gilbertson coached quarterbacks and wide receivers as a graduate assistant. In year two, he served as the tight ends coach before ending his tenure with the Bulls as an offensive analyst working with quarterbacks in 2016. USF played in back-to-back bowls in 2015 (Miami Beach Bowl) and 2016 (Birmingham Bowl).

Over three seasons at USF, Gilbertson played an instrumental role in helping the Bulls increase their win total each season from four wins in 2014, to eight wins in 2015 to 11 wins in 2016. After ranking 119th (17.2 ppg) in the country in scoring in 2014, South Florida improved dramatically over the next two seasons ending the 2016 campaign fourth in scoring (43.8 ppg), fifth in rushing (285.31 ypg) and 11th in total offense (511.5 ypg).

During the 2016 season, Gilbertson helped coach American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Quinton Flowers. The Bulls' signal caller ranked in the top 20 nationally in 11 statistical categories, including seven top-10 rankings.

Flowers finished the season fourth in the country in yards per carry (7.73), tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns (18 – a USF season record), ninth in points responsible for (252) and points per game (19.4) and 10th in total offense (334.0 ypg). Amongst quarterbacks, he ranked No. 2 in the nation in rushing yards trailing only Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.

Including Flowers, Gilbertson coached three players at USF that earned All-American Athletic Conference honors. Wide receiver Andre Davis was an honorable mention pick in 2014, while tight end Sean Price claimed second-team honors in 2015. Both Davis and Flowers played in the NFL, with Davis suiting up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Flowers playing for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Gilbertson was a quarterback at Washington State, where he played for head coaches Paul Wulff and Mike Leach. He earned two letters and was a Pac-12 Conference all-academic honoree during his five years in Pullman before graduating in 2013 with a degree in communications. Gilbertson was the second member of his family to play for the Cougars, joining his grandfather, Keith Gilbertson Sr.

His father, Keith, was the head coach at Idaho from 1986-1988, at Cal from 1992-95 and at Washington from 2003-04. Gilbertson and his wife, Marcelina who played volleyball at WSU, were married in 2017.