Vavae Malepeai joined UC Davis football head coach Tim Plough's staff ahead of the 2026 spring season, coming to Davis after spending the previous three seasons at Stanford.
The former USC running back worked on The Farm as an Offensive Quality Control Analyst for both the offensive line and running backs groups.
He finished up a five-year career with Trojans from 2017-21 and is one of the better running backs in program history. His career ended with 2,005 yards (21st all-time in USC history) and 24 total touchdowns. He appeared in 50 games for the Trojans, making 15 starts. He earned the team's most inspirational player award as a senior and was a co-captain of the Trojans that season. During the 2020 season, Malepeai was named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.
Malepeai graduated from USC in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in communications and then earned his master's in 2021 in project management and another in non-governmental organizations and social change.
