Former Stanford wide receiver and safety Kodi Whitfield is in his first season as an assistant at Stanford, working with the safeties. He returns to The Farm after spending 2023-24 on the UCLA coaching staff.
Whitfield was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on its 2025 “35 Under 35” class in December 2024. The AFCA 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute is a prestigious program aimed at identifying and developing premier, future leaders in the football coaching profession.
Whitfield’s 2024 special teams group at UCLA saw the rise of sophomore kicker Mateen Bhaghani who went 20-for-24 (83.3%) on field goal attempts and a perfect 20-for-20 (100%) on PAT attempts in his first year with the program. Bhaghani, made a 57-yard field goal versus Iowa, the second-longest field goal in program history.
The UCLA Bruins’ cornerbacks were led by All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection Kaylin Moore. Moore recorded nine pass breakups and a game-sealing interception at Nebraska. Nickel back K.J. Wallace led the Bruins with 10 pass breakups and ranked fourth on the team with 50 tackles.
In 2023, UCLA led the Pac-12 and rated 10th-best in the nation in total defense (301.5 yards per game) while holding opponents to less than 20 points per game. The Bruins registered 15 interceptions on the season to rank 15th in the nation and second in the Pac-12. The passing yards allowed total improved by over 50 yards to 220.8 in 2023 to rank second in the conference.
Before his two years at UCLA, Whitfield was the safeties coach at Sacramento State in 2022 under Troy Taylor. He also assisted with special teams and player development for the Hornets, who posted an 11-0 regular-season record and reached the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs. It was the deepest playoff run in school history.
Whitfield spent two seasons assisting with the defensive backs for the Bruins as a graduate assistant in 2020 and 2021 while earning his master’s in transformative coaching and leadership from UCLA in 2022.
No stranger to The Farm, Whitfield played both wide receiver and safety for the Cardinal from 2012-15. He began as a wide receiver and appeared in 27 games, making 18 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown before moving to safety his final two seasons. He was part of a historic run at Stanford, playing on three Pac-12 championship teams and appearing in three Rose Bowl Games (2013, 2014, 2016).
Whitfield graduated from Stanford in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in science in engineering, focused on product design. He went on to earn a master's degree in sports product design from the University of Oregon in 2018.
Coming from Stanford lineage, his father Bob was a consensus All-America selection at offensive line in 1991 for the Cardinal before being drafted eighth overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Bob Whitfield played 12 seasons in the NFL and is a member of the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame (2011).