Former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Mike Iupati has found himself a new job. The four-time Pro Bowler is now an offensive line coach for Washington State University’s football team.
Many Niners fans will remember Iupati’s impressive tenure in San Francisco. He was drafted by the 49ers out of the University of Idaho in the 2010 NFL Draft. The Niners selected him with the 17th overall pick in the first round which ended up being a pretty fantastic pick for the team.
His first two seasons with San Francisco as the team’s startung left guard were solid, but it was not until 2012 that he started getting some real accolades for his play. It was that season that Iupati made his first Pro Bowl and was selected as a first-team All-Pro.
The 6-foot-5 guard from American Samoa was just getting started as he followed that up with two more Pro Bowl seasons with the 49ers in 2013 and 2014. It is not a coincidence the Niners enjoyed great success in several of the years Iupati was on the team, making deep playoff runs with him and left tackle Joe Staley holding things down on the left side of the line.
After 2014, Iupati departed San Francisco in free agency and signed a lucrative deal with the Arizona Cardinals. He made another Pro Bowl in 2015, but injuries began to slow him down by the end of his time in Arizona. He only appeared in one game in the 2017 season and appeared in just 10 games in 2018.
Iupati closed the last two seasons of his career out with another NFC West team, the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers probably wished they still had Iupati on the team during their disastrous 2020 season that was cursed by injuries and poor play on much of the offensive line outside of left tackle Trent Williams.
