Jordan Paopao, who has spent nearly a decade coaching in the Pac-12 Conference, was named Arizona's tight ends coach on January 4, 2021. He enters his third season with the Wildcats in 2023. Prior to joining Arizona in the winter of 2021, Paopao spent the 2020 season as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at UNLV after nearly a decade on staff with the Washington Huskies.
In 2022, he helped Tanner McLachlan produce one of the top performances in a single season by an Arizona tight end in program history. McLachlan was fourth on the team in receiving yards (456), a mark that is second all-time among tight ends in Arizona football history. He also made 33 catches, a mark that is second among tight ends in program history. McLachlan finished 12th nationally in receiving yards, 13th in yards per game (39.2), and 14th nationally in receptions (33) among the nation's tight ends. His total yard output trailed only Rob Gronkowski's 672 receiving yards in 2008.
During the 2021 campaign he oversaw a tight end group that enjoyed an expanded role in the Wildcats offense. Alex Lines and Bryce Wolma combined to haul in 16 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown. Paopao also contributed to the Arizona special teams unit that produced First Team All-Pac-12 selections Kyle Ostendorp and Stanley Berryhill III. Ostendorp led the conference and set a program record with an average of 49.2 yards per punt, while Berryhill routinely impacted games as a punt team gunner and punt returner.
Paopao also played a key role in building Arizona's 2022 signing class that ranked second in the Pac-12 (22nd nationally) and included the first five-star signee in program history.
Paopao's tenure in Seattle began as a graduate assistant, working with the tight ends, during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. His elevation to the full-time assistant coach with the tight ends, prior to the 2013 season, began a seven-year run of heralded positional and team successes. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a second-round selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, would leave the program holding nearly every season and career record by a tight end in school history, which included career receptions, career yards, career touchdowns, single-season receptions and single-season yards. Seferian-Jenkins was the 2013 Mackey Award winner as the nation's best tight end while also earning Third Team AP All-American and Second Team All-Pac-12 honors in his final season on Montlake.
Three Husky tight ends under Paopao's tutelage would be drafted during time in Seattle; Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Second Round) in 2014, Will Dissly (Fourth Round) in 2018 and Drew Sample (Second Round) in 2019. The position group played a key part in UW leading the Pac-12 in total yards in 2016 and finishing second in 2018 and 2013. The Huskies would also finish in the top three in the conference in points per game on three separate occasions during Paopao's tenure. He was a part of Washington staffs that won 78 games, a pair of Pac-12 championships and played in nine bowl games
Paopao spent the 2010 season as Running Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach at Azusa Pacific after two seasons as Recruiting Assistant under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
After a standout prep career at El Camino High in Oceanside, California, Paopao played at University of San Diego under Jim Harbaugh. A three-time Mid-Major All-American and All-Pioneer Selection for the Torreros at center. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from USD in 2008. Paopao is the son of former UCLA football standout Tony Paoao and nephew of CFL quarterback Joe Paopao. He and his wife, Kristin, have one son, Jordan Jr.
