The 49ers on Friday announced the final five hires to Chip Kelly’s coaching staff.
The 49ers hired senior analyst Dana Bible, inside linebackers coach Joe Bowden, defensive quality control coach Tem Lukabu, assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase and Kevin O’Connell, who will be in charge of special projects.
Bowden, 46, takes over for Hardy Nickerson, who left Kelly’s staff to rejoin Lovie Smith as defensive coordinator at Illionois. Nickerson played for Smith and coached under him with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bowden spent the previous four seasons as an assistant linebackers coach with the St. Louis Rams.
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Bible, 62, enters his fifth season in the NFL. He has more than 30 years of experience in college and the NFL. Bible most recently spent six seasons (2007-12) at North Carolina State University, finishing up in 2012 as the team’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Lukabu, 34, enters his third season in the NFL. He spent one season as the linebackers coach at Florida International University (2015) and one year as the outside linebackers coach at his alma mater, Colgate University (2014). Lukabu began his NFL coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-13), where he served as a defensive assistant for two seasons. He left a position he recently accepted at Western Michigan to join the 49ers.
O’Connell, 30, was quarterbacks coach of the Cleveland Browns last season. He spent five seasons in the NFL with New England, Detroit, the New York Jets, Miami and San Diego.
Oghobaase, 29, enters his first season in the NFL as the 49ers assistant defensive line coach after spending the previous three years (2013-15) as a defensive graduate assistant at Ohio State under Urban Meyer.