Shaun Nua is entering his second season at the Naval Academy and will assist Dale Pehrson with the defensive line.
Nua helped lead Navy to an 8-5 record in 2012 and a berth in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Navy defeated Air Force, 28-21, in overtime and Army, 17-13, to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.
The win over Army marked Navy's 11th consecutive victory over its biggest rivals. Other big wins for Navy in 2012 included a come-from-behind 31-30 victory over Indiana and wins over bowl bound East Carolina (56-28) and Central Michigan (31-13).
Nua came to the Naval Academy from Brigham Young, where he assisted for three seasons. He is a 2005 graduate of BYU where he received his bachelor's degree and is currently pursuing his graduate degree.
Over his final two seasons in Provo, Nua helped the Cougars achieve the nation's 24th-best total defense in 2010 and the 13th-ranked defense in 2011. BYU won its bowl games both years while finishing the 2011 season ranked No. 25 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll with a 10-3 record.
As a player, Nua was a 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive end at BYU from 2002-04 before being drafted in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nua played four years in the NFL, three seasons with Pittsburgh and one in Buffalo, including a winning trip to the Super Bowl with the Steelers his rookie year in 2006.
Nua earned All-Mountain West Conference Second-Team honors as a senior. He played in all 23 games of his BYU career, appearing in 12 games his junior season in 2002 and 11 games as a senior in 2004 (redshirted in 2003 due to an injury). He totaled 54 tackles in his two seasons, including 10 sacks and 16 tackles for loss.
Born on May 22, 1981, Nua is a native of Pago Pago, American Samoa. He transferred to BYU from Eastern Arizona Junior College, where he earned junior college All-America honors. He prepped at Tafuna High School in Tafuna, American Samoa where he was an all-league performer as a defensive end.