Bonamego graduated from Paw Paw High School in Paw Paw, Michigan. His father was an officer in the Army. He lived in eight zip codes –including military bases in Italy and Ethiopia– before he turned 18.
Bonamego served as a college assistant for 11 years, coaching for Maine from 1988 to 1991, Lehigh in 1992 and Army from 1993 to 1998.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Bonamego first joined the NFL in 1999 as an assistant special teams coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He held the position for three seasons before serving his final year with the team as special teams coordinator in 2002. That season, the Jaguars blocked four kicks and were second in the league in kickoff coverage. PunterChris Hanson was also selected to Pro Bowl. On January 20, 2012, Bonamego was hired as special teams coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Green Bay Packers
In 2003, Bonamego joined the Green Bay Packers as the special teams coordinator and served in that capacity for three seasons under Mike Sherman. The club had four game-winning field goals in 2004, the most by the team since the 1970 merger. In 2005, the Packers had the NFL's longest punt return for a touchdown, didn’t allow a return touchdown, blocked two PATs and a field goal attempt and ranked fifth in the NFC in punt return average.
In 2006, Bonamego was hired by Sean Payton as special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints and held the job for two seasons. Bonamego is remembered for calling for what turned out to be a successful blocked punt by Steve Gleason in the first game at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans finished 2006 tied for 10th in the NFL in the annual special teams rankings formulated by The Dallas Morning News. The Saints ranked sixth in the NFL in opponent punt return average and fourth in the NFC in kickoff return average. New Orleans did not allow a kickoff return of more than 40 yards and the longest punt return the special teams surrendered was 31 yards. Bonamego returned to the Saints for the 2011 season as the assistant special teams coordinator.
After two seasons in New Orleans, replaced special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong for the Miami Dolphins and first-year head coach Tony Sparano. Bonamego and Sparano had previously coached together with the Jaguars from in 2002 when Sparano was tight ends coach. Bonamego held the job for two plus seasons.
Central Michigan Chippewas
On February 9, 2015, Bonamego was introduced as the 28th football head coach in the history of Central Michigan University. Bonamego is the first alum to serve as Central Michigan's head coach since Bill Kelly from 1951-1966. This is Bonamego's first head coaching position and his first college coaching position since he served as an assistant for Army from 1993-1998. Bonamego signed a five-year contract worth $350,000 annually with an additional $125,000 for radio and television appearances. On November 23, 2018, Bonamego was fired by Central Michigan after the team suffered the worst season in team history.
Bonamego spent two seasons – 2013 and 2014 with the Detroit Lions as the special teams coordinator. He awarded "Bono Gear" to players who stood out on special teams. He also handed out traveling trophies after every Lions victory to the special-teams player who led in categories like blocks, tackles or being the first player down to cover kickoffs. Following his departure after the 2014 season, the Detroit Lions announced on January 22, 2019 that they had re-hired Bonamego as their special teams coordinator.
After his release after one season with the Detroit Lions on December 31, 2019, the Los Angeles Rams announced on February 10th, 2020, that they have hired Bonamego as their special teams coach.
