John Bonamego, the Detroit Lions' special-teams coordinator the last two seasons, was officially named Sunday as the new head coach at Central Michigan.
The Lions are expected to name Joe Marciano, who spent more than a decade as the Houston Texans' special-teams coordinator, as Bonamego's replacement.
Bonamego met with the Central Michigan players Sunday and will be introduced during a news conference Monday afternoon.
The university confirmed the hiring with a series of messages posted on Twitter.
Proud to announce that John Bonamego is CMU’s new head football coach. http://t.co/fladoGkHzy pic.twitter.com/sySB21m1r8
— CMU Football (@CMU_Football) February 8, 2015
Bonamego, a native of Paw Paw, Mich., was a walk-on receiver/quarterback for Central Michigan and earned two varsity letters in the mid-1980s.
"Since I left CMU in 1987, my dream job was to be the head coach of the Central Michigan football program," Bonamego said. "Today, that dream came true."
In announcing the hiring, CMU athletic director Dave Heeke said that Bonamego "has an extraordinary passion for Central Michigan."
Bonamego, 51, replaces Dan Enos, who left a few weeks ago to become the offensive coordinator at Arkansas.
