Memphis Showboats | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Defensive coordinator | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | July 15, 1967||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 213 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Culver City (Culver City, California) | ||||||||||||
College: | UCLA | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1989 / round: 2 / pick: 34 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Player stats at PFR |
Carnell Augustino Lake (born July 15, 1967) is an American former professional football player and coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL). He was a safety and cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He is a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was the cornerbacks coach for the UCLA Bruins under head coach Rick Neuheisel in 2009 before leaving after one season for family reasons. [1] He was the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach until February 2018. [2]
Lake played linebacker for the UCLA Bruins from 1985 through 1988. He finished his college career with 45.5 tackles for loss and 25.5 sacks. Those totals, as of the 2016 season, are 1st and 4th in UCLA football history.
“We don't have a better player on the team than Carnell Lake. He's marvelous.” [3]
On January 15, 1989, Lake played in the East-West Shrine Game and was part of the West who lost 24–6 to the East. On January 21, 1989, Lake was part of Los Angeles Rams' head coach John Robinson's South team that defeated the North 13–12. Lake played safety in both games as multiple teams were interested in moving him to safety as he was considered to be too small to continue to play linebacker professionally. [4]
Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 0+3⁄4 in (1.85 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 4.36 s | 1.55 s | 2.61 s | 4.29 s | 35.5 in (0.90 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | 15 reps | ||||
All values from NFL Combine [5] |
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Lake in the second round (34th overall) of the 1989 NFL draft. Lake was the third safety drafted in 1989. [6]
On May 10, 1989, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a three-year, $850,000 contract. [7]
Head coach Chuck Noll named Lake the starting strong safety to begin his rookie season, alongside free safety Thomas Everett and cornerbacks Rod Woodson and Dwayne Woodruff. [8] Lake played his first three seasons under defensive backs coach John Fox.
He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opening 51–0 loss to the Cleveland Browns. On October 15, 1989, Lake recorded five combined tackles, made two pass deflections, recovered a fumble, and made his first career interception during a 17–7 win at the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. [9] Lake made a one-handed interception off of a pass by Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar. His exceptional performance in Week 6 earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. [10] In Week 9, Lake made his first career sack on Broncos' quarterback John Elway in the Steelers' 34–7 loss at the Denver Broncos. [11] He finished his rookie season in 1989 with 70 combined tackles, six fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, one interception, and one sack in 15 games and 15 starts.
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the season third in the AFC Central with a 9–7 record and earned a wildcard berth. On December 31, 1989, Lake started in his first career playoff game as the Steelers defeated the Houston Oilers 26–23 in the AFC Wildcard Game. The following week, they lost 24–23 at the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round. [12]
The Pittsburgh Steelers promoted linebackers coach Dave Brazil to defensive coordinator after Rod Rust accepted the head coaching position with the New England Patriots. Brazil retained Lake and Thomas Everett as the starting safety tandem in 1990. [13] Lake started in all 16 games in 1990 and recorded 67 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a sack. [14]
Head coach Chuck Noll retained Lake and Thomas Everett as the starting safety tandem in 1991, along with cornerbacks Rod Woodson and D. J. Johnson. [15] On December 27, 1991, Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Chuck Noll announced his decision to retire after the Steelers finished with a 7–9 record in 1991. [16] He started in all 16 games in 1991 and recorded 83 combined tackles and a sack. [17]
On January 21, 1992, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs' defensive coordinator Bill Cowher as their new head coach. [18] On January 31, 1992, Cowher announced the hiring of former New Orleans Saints' secondary coach Dom Capers as their new defensive coordinator. [19]
On August 24, 1992, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a three-year contract.
Head coach Bill Cowher retained Lake the starting strong safety in 1992. Lake started alongside free safety Darren Perry and cornerbacks Rod Woodson and D.J. Johnson. [20] He started in all 16 games in 1992 and recorded 85 combined tackles and two sacks. [21]
Lake and Darren Perry returned as the starting safety duo in 1993 and played under defensive backs coach Dick LeBeau. On September 12, 1993, Lake collected a season-high 11 combined tackles, but was carted off the field due to an injury as the Steelers lost 27–0 at the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. His injury sidelined him for the next two games (Weeks 3–4). [22] In Week 13, Lake recorded six combined tackles and made a season-high two sacks on Oilers quarterback Warren Moon in the Steelers' 23–3 loss at the Houston Oilers. [23] On December 13, 1993, Lake recorded six combined tackles and made an interception off a pass by Dolphins' quarterback Steve DeBerg during a 21–20 victory at the Miami Dolphins in Week 13. [24] He finished the season with 91 combined tackles, five sacks, a career-high four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble in 14 games and 14 starts. [25]
Head coach Bill Cowher retained Lake and Darren Perry as the starting safeties in 1994. [26] He started in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against the Dallas Cowboys and recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles in their 26–9 loss. [27] On December 16, 1994, it was announced that Lake was selected to play in the 1995 Pro Bowl as the Starting Strong Safety, to mark the first Pro Bowl selection of his career. [28] He started in all 16 games in 1994 and recorded 68 combined tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, a sack, and an interception. [25]
On February 15, 1995, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to apply their franchise tag to Lake. [29] August 15, 1995, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Lake to a four-year, $9.20 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $2 million. [30] Lake and Darren Perry returned as the starting safeties to begin the regular season.
In Week 6, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles during a 20–16 loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars. [31] On October 19, 1995, Lake was moved to cornerback and replaced Alvoid Mays after the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense allowed Bengals' quarterback Jeff Blake to throw three touchdown passes during a 49–31 win at the Cincinnati Bengals. [32] [33] Head coach Bill Cowher moved Lake to cornerback for the remainder of the season as a replacement for Rod Woodson, who tore his ACL in the season-opener against the Detroit Lions. [34] On December 15, 1995, it was announced that Lake was selected to the 1996 Pro Bowl as a safety. [35] Lake started in all 16 games in 1995 and recorded 63 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks, one interception, a forced fumble, and fumble recovery. [25] He started the last nine regular season games at cornerback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished first in the AFC Central with an 11–5 record and earned a first round bye. On January 6, 1996, Lake recorded five combined tackles and intercepted a pass by Bills' quarterback Jim Kelly during a 40–21 win against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round. [36] The following week, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 20–16 in the AFC Championship Game. On January 28, 1996, Lake recorded five combined tackles as the Steelers lost 27–17 to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX. [37]
On December 13, 1996, it was announced that Lake was selected to play in the 1997 Pro Bowl, marking the third consecutive Pro Bowl selection or his career. [38]
In 1997, Lake was named AFC Defensive Player of the Year by the Kansas City Committee of 101. For the second time, Lake played the majority of the season at corner. He also received a vote for MVP from Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, which created a situation where Barry Sanders and Brett Favre tied for the award that season. [39]
In 1999, Lake departed the Pittsburgh Steelers and joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. The Jaguars signed Lake to a four-year, $18 million contract which made him the highest paid safety in the league. Lake was moved to a new position as free safety, making the Pro Bowl for a fifth time. He was reunited with Jaguars' defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who had previously held the same position with the Pittsburgh Steelers. [40]
On August 17, 2000, Lake underwent surgery on a recurring injury to his left foot and was expected to miss the entire 2000 NFL season. Lake elected to have a bone graft and had a piece of his hip bone grafted to his injured left foot. Lake had undergone a surgery on his foot in March due to a stress fracture in the navicular bone near his ankle. [41] He underwent another surgery on the foot in May and returned to training camp in August. [42]
On September 2, 2001, the Jaguars released Lake in a salary cap-related maneuver. [43]
On September 11, 2001, the Baltimore Ravens signed Lake to a one-year, $477,000 contract at the veteran minimum. [44] Lake was reunited Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, who was a linebackers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992 to 1995, and former teammates Rod Woodson and Leon Searcy.
In summer 2009, Lake, along with former Steeler Greg Lloyd, was a coaching intern at the Philadelphia Eagles training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. [45]
In June 2010, Lake was hired by Jerry Simon to be the assistant coach of the Marina High School boys' basketball team.
On March 7, 2011, Lake was hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach. [46] He left that position as of February 7, 2018, to "return to California to be a part of his youngest son’s last year of high school football". [2]
Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
1989 | PIT | 15 | 15 | 70 | — | — | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
1990 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 67 | — | — | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1991 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 83 | — | — | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1992 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 85 | — | — | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
1993 | PIT | 14 | 14 | 91 | — | — | 5.0 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
1994 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 82 | 68 | 14 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1995 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 73 | 63 | 10 | 1.5 | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1996 | PIT | 13 | 13 | 54 | 44 | 10 | 2.0 | 1 | 47 | 47.0 | 47 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 85 | 1 |
1997 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 60 | 43 | 17 | 6.0 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 1 |
1998 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 69 | 63 | 6 | 1.0 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
1999 | JAX | 16 | 16 | 58 | 51 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2000 | JAX | did not play due to injury | ||||||||||||||
2001 | BAL | 15 | 1 | 31 | 29 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 185 | 171 | 823 | 361 | 66 | 25.0 | 16 | 161 | 10.1 | 47 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 135 | 2 |
Lake grew up primarily in Southern California. Lake did, however, live in the San Francisco Bay Area for three years (1979–1981) and attended Bowditch Middle School in Foster City, California. There he also played Pop Warner Football where he was a stand-out tailback and cornerback for those two years.
Lake attended Culver City High School, where he played varsity football for three years. He started on both sides of the ball as running back and linebacker. He also attended elementary school in Culver City prior to his move to San Francisco.
He and his wife, Monica, have three children. Lake and his family live in Irvine, California. Lake is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, an African American Greek-letter fraternity. [47] His son, Quentin, plays defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams.
Roderick Kevin Woodson is an American former professional football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Widely considered one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time, Woodson holds the NFL record for fumble recoveries (32) by a defensive player, and interceptions returned for touchdown (12). He was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993.
Lawyer Marzell Milloy is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He played college football for the Washington Huskies, and earned unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft, and also played for the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, and Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, a two-time All-Pro, and a member of the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI championship team that beat his hometown team, the St. Louis Rams.
Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career as a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). An eight-time Pro Bowl and six-time All-Pro selection, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility.
Brian Patrick Dawkins Sr., nicknamed "Weapon X", is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft. In his last three seasons, he played for the Denver Broncos.
Joseph Eugene Porter Sr. is an American professional football coach and former player. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado State Rams and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Porter won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers and was also a member of the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers drafted his son, Joey Porter Jr., with the thirty-second overall selection of the 2023 NFL draft.
Casey Hampton Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a five-time Pro Bowl nose tackle and 2-time Super Bowl Champion over twelve seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to that he was an All-American college football player for the Texas Longhorns and a first round pick of the Steelers in the 2001 NFL draft.
Ivan "Ike" Taylor is a former American football cornerback. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft, and spent his entire 12-year career in Pittsburgh. He played college football at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Charles Anthony Tillman, nicknamed "Peanut", is an American former professional football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft.
John Terrence Lynch Jr. is an American professional football executive and former safety who is the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1993 NFL draft, later winning Super Bowl XXXVII with them. Lynch also spent four seasons with the Denver Broncos before retiring in 2008 and working as a color commentator for NFL on Fox games until being named general manager of the 49ers in 2017. He made nine Pro Bowls during his career and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
Reggie Lee Nelson is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, winning a national championship and earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft and also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders.
Eric Steven Weddle is an American former professional football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, where he earned consensus All-American honors in 2006, and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft. During his nine seasons with the Chargers, Weddle received three Pro Bowl and two first-team All-Pro selections. Weddle spent his next three seasons as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, earning Pro Bowl honors in each and extending his total selections to six. He retired after playing for the Los Angeles Rams in 2019, but returned two years later to join the Rams on their playoff run, which culminated with a victory in Super Bowl LVI. Following the championship, he retired a second time.
William Gay is an American football coach and former cornerback who is the assistant defensive backs coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. Gay was a member of the Super Bowl XLIII-winning team the following season and played for the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants before becoming a coach in 2019.
Calais Malik Campbell is an American professional football player who is a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Cameron Phillip Heyward is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft. He is the son of former NFL player Craig Heyward and the older brother of NFL player and teammate Connor Heyward.
Artie Tyrone Burns Jr. is an American professional football cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Miami (FL), and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Myles David Jack is an American professional football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was named the top freshman player in the Pac-12, receiving honors both on defense as well as on offense for his work as a running back and was named an All-Pac-12 linebacker twice. In 2015, Jack dropped out of UCLA and declared for the draft after suffering a season-ending knee injury. Jack was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft. Along with his mother LaSonjia Jack, he is the current owner of the ECHL Allen Americans.
Minkah Annane Fitzpatrick Jr. is an American professional football safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft before being traded to the Steelers during the 2019 season.
Trent Jordan Watt is an American professional football linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers before being selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.
Michael Hilton Jr. is an American professional football cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Hilton has also been a member of the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jayon Lee Brown is an American football middle linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft, after playing college football at UCLA.