Darnell Stapleton

Last updated

Darnell Stapleton
Darnell Stapleton Steelers.jpg
Stapleton with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007
Washington Commanders
Position:Assistant offensive line coach
Personal information
Born: (1985-09-21) September 21, 1985 (age 39)
Union Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Career information
College:
Undrafted: 2007
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Darnell Robert Stapleton (born September 21, 1985) is an American professional football coach and former offensive lineman who is the assistant offensive line coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and won Super Bowl XL with the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom he signed with as an undrafted free agent in 2007.

Contents

Early life

Stapleton played football for Union High School. As a senior in 2002, he was a first-team All-Watchung Conference selection, and a first-team all-county selection.

College career

Junior college

Stapleton attended Hudson Valley Community College for two seasons. In 2003, he earned second-team all-league honors. He started 11 games in 2004, and was a first-team All-Northeast Football Conference selection and a preseason NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American.

Rutgers University

Following junior college, Stapleton enrolled at Rutgers University, where he became the team's starting center in spring camps in 2005. He started 12 games on the season. In his senior year, Stapleton started 13 games and was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation's best center. The Rutgers offensive line allowed only eight sacks on the season, the fewest in the nation, while Rutgers running back Ray Rice set a Big East Conference record with 1,794 yards on the season. Stapleton was awarded the David Bender Trophy, given to the team's best offensive lineman.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Stapleton was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers following the 2007 NFL draft. He made the Steelers' 53-man roster in his rookie season but was inactive for every regular season and playoff game. In 2008, Stapleton was a reserve for the first four games of the season, before starting the final 12 games at right guard in place of an injured Kendall Simmons. He also started the team's three playoff games, including the Super Bowl XLIII victory over the Arizona Cardinals. He did not play in the team's first three preseason games in 2009 before being placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2009, with a knee injury. He was not offered a tender by the team as a restricted free agent following the season.

Florida Tuskers

Stapleton signed to play with the United Football League's Florida Tuskers in July 2010. [1]

New England Patriots

Stapleton signed with the New England Patriots on August 9, 2010. He was waived on August 11.

Coaching career

New York Sharks

As of 2011 Stapleton is the head coach for the New York Sharks, a professional women's football team in the Women's Football Alliance. The New York Sharks are the longest running and winningest team in women's football history with 3 conference titles (2002, 2003, 2004 IWFL East), 6 division titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 IWFL) and 1 championship title (2002 IWFL).

Montclair Kimberley Cougars

Stapleton coached the offensive and defensive lines at Montclair Kimberly Academy for the 2012 season. The Cougars went 9–2, their best ever record.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

After his brief stint as head coach of the New York Sharks, Darnell Stapleton returned to Rutgers for the position of offensive assistant in 2012.

Pace University Setters

Stapleton was supposed to be an offensive line coach for the 2014 Setters season, however on July 16, 2014, he announced that he would be joining the Bucknell University Bison for their 2014 season.

Washington Commanders

On February 15, 2024, Stapleton was hired by the Washington Commanders as their assistant offensive line coach under head coach Dan Quinn. [2]

Related Research Articles

Gene Vincent Mruczkowski is a former American football guard. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Purdue.

John William Standeford is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue, and signed with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He was also a member of the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Florida Tuskers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Virginia Destroyers. As a member of the Colts, Standeford won Super Bowl XLI, defeating the Chicago Bears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D'Anthony Batiste</span> American football player and coach (born 1982)

D'Anthony Batiste is an American football coach and former player who is the strength and conditioning assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He is a former offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals. He also was a member of the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League and the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings in the AF2. He played college football at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Jesse Rostenbach Boone is an American former professional football center who played for the Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals, the Rhein Fire of the NFLE, Utah Blaze, and the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Utah. After his football career, he is now a company owner and CEO of Redzone Real Estate.

Pedro Sosa is a former American football offensive tackle for the Hartford Colonials of the defunct United Football League. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Rutgers.

Benjamin Lorenza Wilkerson is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant offensive line coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a center in the NFL for four seasons from 2005 to 2008. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, earning consensus All-American honors, and winning the Rimington Trophy. He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2005, and also played for the Atlanta Falcons, and the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League (UFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayson Foster</span> American football player (born 1985)

Jayson D. Foster is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), United Football League (UFL), and Canadian Football League (CFL). He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Georgia Southern and was the 2007 Walter Payton Award winner. Foster was also a member of the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Florida Tuskers, Sacramento Mountain Lions and Montreal Alouettes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Bogle</span> American football player (born 1979)

Phillip R. Bogle is a former American football guard and assistant head coach and general manager for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League (AFL). He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at New Haven.

Scott Burley is an American football offensive lineman. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins at the University of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Gagner</span> American football player (born 1943)

Lawrence Joseph Gagner is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for parts of five seasons during the 1960s and 1970s. Gagner was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up near Daytona Beach, Florida, where he was a multi-sport all-state athlete at Seabreeze High School. He played college football for the Florida Gators, playing several positions on offense and defense under head coach Ray Graves. Gagner became a regular starter on the Gators' offensive line during his junior year in 1964. He was a two-time All-SEC guard and was a consensus All-American at that position during his senior year in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Austin (American football)</span> American football player and coach (born 1986)

Thomas Adam Austin V is an American college football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive line coach for the Clemson Tigers. He played professionally as a center in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played collegiately for Clemson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La'el Collins</span> American football player (born 1993)

La'el Collins is an American professional football offensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at LSU, where he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, recognizing the Southeastern Conference's (SEC) top offensive lineman, in 2014. Collins signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashod Hill</span> American football player (born 1992)

Rashod Demontary Hill is an American football offensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Throckmorton</span> American football player (born 1996)

Calvin Throckmorton is an American professional football guard for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon, and signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takoby Cofield</span> American gridiron football player (born 1992)

Takoby Cofield is a former Canadian football left tackle and is the assistant offensive line coach for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Duke and was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Redskins. He played two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Curhan</span> American football player (born 1998)

Jake Curhan is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, and was a two-time Pac-12 honorable mention. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 NFL draft, debuted in the NFL that season, and started five games at right tackle while also playing in 10 other games as a rookie.

William Anthony Dunkle is an American football offensive guard who is a free agent. He played college football at San Diego State and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2022.

Brandon Walton is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida Atlantic and was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

Travis "T. J." Bass is an American professional football offensive guard for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Butte before transferring to Oregon and was signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent after the 2023 NFL draft.

J. D. DiRenzo is an American football offensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football for the Sacred Heart Pioneers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights and was signed by the Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, Aaron (July 15, 2010). "Florida Tuskers Acquire Darnell Stapleton's Rights". National Football Post. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  2. ↑ Washington Commanders Public Relations (February 15, 2024). "Washington Commanders announce coaching staff". Commanders.com. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.