RENO, Nev. - Nevada Football head coach Jeff Choate announced two more additions to his 2024 Wolf Pack staff, Thursday.

Parker Henry, a former player under Choate at Washington State and most recently the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Portland State, will lead the same units at Nevada. Jim Mastro, Nevada's Senior Director of Football Administration and Operations the past two seasons, will continue in the same role under Choate, with whom he spent the 2012 season on the Washington State staff.

"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 his 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."

Nevada Football will continue to announce its staff additions over the coming weeks.

Parker Henry - Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers
Parker Henry, who began his playing career as a nickel during Choate's season at Washington State in 2012, joins the Wolf Pack staff as special teams coordinator.

Henry served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Portland State in 2023. The Viking special teams units accounted for a pair of touchdown returns (one kick, one punt), while ranking sixth-nationally in punt returns (17.3 yards per return) and 20th in kick returns (22.3 ypr).

Choate on Henry: "Parker was a walk-on linebacker during my year at Washington State, and he went on to earn a scholarship and was made a team caption—something that speaks to the work ethic he has. There is something special about Parker in terms of the energy he brings, and his focus, commitment, and dedication. He's very intelligent, high-energy, and has tremendous attention to detail, which on the special teams side of things is critical. He's a young coach who has risen quickly through the ranks. I got calls from coaches he's worked with at his previous stops, and what they had to say about Parker shows he's a rising star in this profession."

Under Henry's tutelage, linebacker Michael Montgomery was named a Freshman All-American by FCS Football Central. Montgomery, a true freshman in 2023, ranked second on the Viks defense with 69 tackles, also recording 3.5 tackles-for-loss. Two of Henry's charges, kicker Gianni Smith and linebacker Parker McKenna were named All-Big Sky Second Team and honorable mention, respectively. Smith went 8-for-9 on field-goal attempts, topping the Big Sky with an 88.9 conversion rate, and was 6-of-7 on tries of at least 40 yards, including hitting two of his three attempts from 50-plus.

"I am incredibly excited and humbled to join this staff of elite coaches and men. I look forward to learning from all of them. We are all fired up to restore the rich history of Nevada Wolf Pack Football," Henry said. "I can't wait to work under Coach Choate, he is the epitome of a servant leader. His energy, passion, and vision are clear. I have experienced first-hand playing for him. As a no-name walk-on, he treated me like a five-star recruit, welcomed me into his family, and challenged me to get better. We have the right man steering the ship."

Henry spent the 2022-23 seasons as a defensive analyst at USC. He also has three seasons or experience at Oklahoma as a defensive graduate assistant (2019-21).  The Sooners played in the 2019 Peach Bowl (CFP semifinal), 2020 Cotton Bowl and 2021 Alamo Bowl.

A 2016 graduate of Washington State, Henry earned a bachelor's degree in economics and sports management. He earned his master's degree in human relations from Oklahoma in 2021.

Henry played on the Washington State football team as a nickelback (2012-16). In his 41-game career, he had 103 tackles, including seven for losses, and an interception, while starting 12 times. He went on to begin his coaching career at Skyview High School in 2017, coaching linebackers and running backs.

Jim Mastro – Senior Director of Football Administration and Operations
Jim Mastro, who brings over 30 years of collegiate football coaching experience, begins his third season, and first under Jeff Choate, as the Senior Director of Administration and Operations. In this role, Mastro will serve as the head football administrator and oversee the program's day-to-day operations.

Choate on Mastro: "Jim Mastro is a link to some of most successful periods in Nevada history. It is an absolute home run to keep him on staff. His knowledge, his connections in the Reno and Northern Nevada communities have been invaluable to me. I can't say enough about the job that he's done to ease this transition for me, my family, and my staff. Having someone like Jim running the day-to-day is what allows me to be in Texas. Having competed against him for six years then working together at Washington State for a year, it was a no-brainer to have him on staff. Jim will help us push this thing forward to get Nevada Football back to what it's all about: competing and winning championships."

Mastro, one of the most respected coaches in college football, stepped off the field a few years back to take care of family matters, returning to Nevada in 2022 in his current role. He had previously coached at Nevada from 2000-10, helping lead the Wolf Pack to multiple conference titles.

"I could not be happier to work with Jeff again. From our time together at Washington State there was no question he was destined to be a head coach! He is a great leader, developer, communicator, and most importantly a great person. We're so happy to have him and Janet as part of the Wolf Pack Family," Mastro said.

During Mastro's time at Nevada under head coach Chris Ault, the Wolf Pack successfully developed the Pistol offense into one of the most potent in college football at the time. Nevada claimed a pair of Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championships (2005, 2010) during his 11 seasons in Reno, while finishing in the top five in the country in both rushing and total offense during Mastro's last three years at Nevada.

Mastro spent 11 seasons (2000-10) as running backs coach at Nevada before moving to the Pac-12, building one of the top rushing attacks in the nation and helping develop the Pistol offense.

During those 11 seasons, a Wolf Pack running back led the Western Athletic Conference in rushing five times and Mastro helped five Nevada running backs produce nine 1,000-yard seasons. In 2010, Vai Taua was seventh in the nation with 123.9 yards per game while producing his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign. In Mastro's second season at Nevada, he took a walk-on redshirt freshman, Chance Kretschmer, and developed him into the nation's leading rusher.

With Mastro directing running backs, Nevada led the nation with 344.9 rushing yards per game in 2009 and was third in the nation in both 2008 (277.8) and 2010 (292.2). Mastro helped Nevada develop the Pistol offense in 2005 under head coach Chris Ault, resulting in the Wolf Pack having at least one 1,000-yard rusher and a first-team All-WAC selection in each season with the exception of 2006, when Robert Hubbard finished with 996 yards.

In 2009, Mastro was the running backs coach for the only offense in history with three 1,000-yard rushers in the same season, when two Nevada running backs and a quarterback accomplished the feat. Also, during Mastro's tenure, the Wolf Pack set a record that still stands for career rushing yards by a tandem, eclipsing the record previously held by SMU's Eric Dickerson and Craig James. Taua and quarterback Colin Kaepernick combined to rush for 8,700 career yards, while Kaepernick also threw for 10,098 yards and 82 touchdowns during that time.
Mastro also served as recruiting coordinator during his time at Nevada, overseeing several top recruiting classes.

Mastro helped lead the Wolf Pack to seven bowl appearances and coaches seven all-conference selections including Assistant Head Coach Vai Taua, who was selected as an All-American two times (2009, 2010).

Mastro joined Mario Cristobal's staff at Oregon in January 2018. The veteran coach spent the previous six seasons coaching running backs at Washington State after one year as run-game coordinator at UCLA.

In all, Mastro has spent 28 years of his 31-year career coaching running backs. In addition to his time at Nevada, Washington State and Oregon, he coached the backfield his first five seasons at Cal Poly as well as the two seasons he spent at Idaho.

In four seasons at Oregon (2018-21), Mastro has developed a young group of running backs into a potent ground attack. The trio of CJ Verdell, Travis Dye and Cyrus Habibi-Likio, who were all freshmen in Mastro's first season with the Ducks, combined to rush for 4,772 yards and 47 touchdowns over the last three seasons, while adding 1,101 receiving yards and eight more TDs.

Verdell, along with Dye, put together back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2018 and 2019, becoming just the fifth Ducks' running back all time to have consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. As a freshman in 2008, Verdell rumbled for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground while catching 27 passes for 315 yards and two more TDs. He was the only Power 5 player in the nation with 1,000 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving. Verdell was one of just eight FBS freshmen with 1,000 yards on the ground and just the third freshman in Oregon history to accomplish the feat.

In Mastro's time in Eugene, Oregon has averaged 174.9 yards rushing per game. In 2018, the Ducks finished fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing gaining 179.38 yards per contest. In 2019, Oregon improved its Pac-12 ranking finishing second in the league in rushing while gaining 175.69 yards per game. During the shortened 2020 season, Oregon averaged 166.71 yards per game.

Mastro spent six seasons coaching running backs at Washington State (2012-17) before joining the Oregon coaching staff.
In his final season at Washington State, Mastro led a group of running backs that surpassed both the 1,000-yard rushing (1,096) and receiving (1,073) marks for the second straight season, finishing with a combined 2,169 yards. Honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference selection Jamal Morrow led the team with 522 rushing yards, while also hauling in 60 receptions for 506 yards and scoring nine total touchdowns.

Mastro spent the 2011 season as the run-game coordinator while coaching tight ends, slots and the quarterback run game at UCLA. Mastro also played a key role in the Bruins' rushing attack, which ranked third in the Pac-12 with 178.4 rushing yards per game.

With Idaho (1998-99), Mastro spent two seasons as running backs and special teams' coach. During his tenure with the Vandals, he helped Idaho to a Big West Championship and coached Joel Thomas, the 1998 Big West Player of the Year and Idaho's career rushing leader.

At San Jose State in 1996, Mastro spent one season with the Spartans serving as the team's linebackers and special teams' coach in John Ralston's final season as head coach at San Jose State.

Mastro started his coaching career at his alma mater, Cal Poly, in 1989 while completing his undergraduate degree. He was the running backs coach from 1989-1993 before taking over direction of the defensive line and special teams while also serving as strength coach from 1994-95. In 1990, Mastro coached Joe Fragiadakis, who finished with 1,040 yards, to the seventh-best rushing season in Mustang history at the time.

Mastro returns to the Wolf Pack family with his wife, Terri, who he married in 2001. They have three kids – Michael, Ronnie and Cheryl – and three grandchildren – Kaydin, Mason and Brooke.