Akey was a college assistant coach for 19 seasons, beginning in 1988 as assistant defensive line coach at Weber State. From 1989 to 1994, Akey was defensive line coach, recruiting coordinator, and special teams coordinator at Weber State. Akey succeeded
Dennis Erickson, who left his second stint at Idaho after just ten months for
Arizona State of the
Pac-10. Erickson was preceded by
Nick Holt, who voluntarily departed after only two seasons, compiling nine losses in each.
Tom Cable was fired in late
2003, after four disappointing seasons (11–35, ). When hired as the Vandals' new head coach, Akey stated that he was opposed to holding the
Battle of the Palouse rivalry game with
Washington State every year. He said he preferred it as a "once-in-a-while thing," to minimize possible "off-field" problems between rival programs only eight miles apart. The annual game was revived in
1998 and played for ten consecutive years; it was last played in Akey's first season of
2007 and was renewed for a game in
2013. Akey led the Vandals to victory in their first
bowl game in more than a decade in December
2009, but his tenure ended in
2012 on October 21, when Idaho fired him following a 70–28 loss to
Louisiana Tech, moving the team's overall record to 1–7 for the season. He achieved a 20–50 () record while head coach at Idaho, and the Vandals lost their final four games in 2012 after his termination. In 2025, Akey joined the staff at
Oregon State University as special assistant to head coach
Trent Bray. Akey took charge of special teams after the dismissal of Jamie Christian in early October. A week later, Bray was fired after going winless in the first seven games and Akey was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. ==Head coaching record==