Jim Mastro, a highly-respected coach in the collegiate ranks, and along with legendary Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault one of the innovators of the Pistol offense which carried Nevada to some of its greatest heights, returns to the sidelines in 2025 to coach the program's running backs.
Over his 31 seasons of coaching college football, Mastro has spent 28 overseeing running backs.
He spent the previous three seasons (2022-24) on the Wolf Pack staff in administrative roles, most recently as the program's general manager in 2024.
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.
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 five grandchildren – Kaydin, Mason, Brooke, Gemma, and Amira.
