Ken Amato

Last updated

Ken Amato
Dallas Cowboys
Position:Defensive assistant
Personal information
Born: (1977-05-18) May 18, 1977 (age 46)
Puerto Rico
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school: Miami (FL) Braddock
College: Montana State
Undrafted: 1999
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
Career NFL statistics
Games played:125
Tackles:36
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

Kenneth Carlos Amato (born May 18, 1977) is a former American football long snapper and current defensive assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to his coaching career, he spent nine seasons as a long snapper for the Tennessee Titans. He played college football at Montana State.

Contents

High school career

Ken Amato attended Braddock High School in Miami, Florida. He was a Dade County All-Star Team member in football, and also participated in volleyball and in track and field as a high jumper. Amato learned to long snap in his last year playing Pop Warner football, but he did not do it again until college. [1]

Playing career

College career

Amato attended Moorpark Junior College for two years, then transferred to Montana State University. He served as the long snapper all four years. As a sophomore, he won All-Conference honors. As a junior, he played defensive end and linebacker, and posted 48 tackles and 2.5 sacks. As a senior, he had three sacks, one fumble recovery, and 41 tackles.

After his college eligibility expired at the end of the 1998 season Amato spent the next two years finishing his degree while also assisting Montana State's coaching staff with video work, as well as other tasks. [1]

Professional playing career

After graduation, he then spent two years working as a full-time juvenile service specialist in Miami, Florida. He then joined the Carolina Panthers 2002 and 2003. However, he was released during training camp each season. [1] After being released by the Panthers for the second time, he signed with the Tennessee Titans on August 12, 2003. He played as long snapper in every regular season game for Tennessee that season, as well as on special teams. He also played linebacker in extra linebacker situations, and made seven career tackles in that position.

Coaching career

High school and college coaching

After retiring from professional football in 2011, Amato became the outside linebackers coach at Brentwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee in 2013. After three seasons in that position, he became the special teams coordinator at Limestone College in 2016. [2]

Professional coaching

In 2017, he joined the Dallas Cowboys as a special teams assistant. In February 2018, he was named a defensive assistant on the coaching staff of head coach Jason Garrett. [3]

Family

Amato's father, Paul, is Italian-Irish and his mother, Isora Gotay, is from Puerto Rico. Amato married his wife Sandi in July 2004. The couple resides in Brentwood, Tennessee. They have a daughter named Jazlyn (born May 6, 2007). [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall Godfrey</span> American football player (born 1973)

Randall Euralentris Godfrey is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. Godfrey played college football at the University of Georgia, where he majored in housing and consumer economics. He also played High School Football at Lowndes High School in Valdosta Georgia. He was drafted in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys with the 49th overall pick. He then played for the Tennessee Titans and the Seattle Seahawks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dom Capers</span> American football player and coach (born 1950)

Ernest Dominic Capers is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans for four seasons each. Capers is the only head coach to lead two different NFL expansion teams during their first seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Vrabel</span> American football player and coach (born 1975)

Michael George Vrabel is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned consensus All-American honors. Vrabel was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft, then joined the New England Patriots as a free agent in 2001, becoming a three-time Super Bowl champion and an All-Pro during his tenure, then finished his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Norton Jr.</span> American football player and coach (born 1966)

Kenneth Howard Norton Jr. is an American football coach and former linebacker who most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) from 2018 to 2021. He is the son of Ken Norton, former world champion heavyweight boxer.

Keith A. Adams is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. He also was a member of the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, earning consensus all-American honors.

Justin Peato Ena is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the linebackers coach at Brigham Young University football. He played college football at BYU and in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chase Blackburn</span> American football player and coach (born 1983)

Chase Wyatt Blackburn is a former American football coach and former linebacker who is the special teams coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He won two Super Bowl titles with the Giants, both against the New England Patriots. He played college football at Akron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Cain</span> American football player (born 1980)

Jeremy Robert Cain is a former American football long snapper. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Harris (safety)</span> American football player and coach (born 1982)

Chris Harris is an American football coach and former safety who is the defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft after playing college football for the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russ Grimm</span> American football player and coach (born 1959)

Russell Scott Grimm is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans. As a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a first-team selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.

William Frederick Bates is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 15-year career as a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). A fan favorite, he was a Pro Bowl selection in 1984, played in Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXX, and was on the Cowboys' roster for Super Bowl XXVII. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Matthews (American football)</span> American football player and coach (born 1961)

Bruce Rankin Matthews is an American former professional football player who played as a guard, center, offensive tackle, and long snapper in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, from 1983 to 2001. He spent his entire career playing for the Houston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans franchise. Highly versatile, throughout his NFL career, Matthews played every position on the offensive line, starting in 99 games as a left guard, 87 as a center, 67 as a right guard, 22 as a right tackle, 17 as a left tackle, and was the long snapper on field goals, PATs, and punts. Having never missed a game due to injury, Matthews' 293 NFL games started is the third most of all time, behind quarterbacks Brett Favre and Tom Brady.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Hamilton (safety)</span> American football player and coach (born 1982)

Justin Lee Hamilton is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive quality control coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech and also served as their defensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021.

LeVar Woods is the special teams coach at the University of Iowa, where he played linebacker during his college career. As an professional football player, he was originally signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2001, played for a season and a half with the Detroit Lions (2005–2006), and finished his career with the Tennessee Titans (2006–2007).

Joe Tarrod Bowden, III is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma.

Douglass Clayton Colman is an American football coach, former player and son of former NFL player Wayne Charles Colman. He was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns after playing college football at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemanski Hall</span> American football player and coach (born 1970)

Lemanski Hall is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston/Tennessee Oilers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. He is currently a defensive ends coach for Clemson University. Hall played college football at the University of Alabama.

Ken Flajole is an American football coach who is the outside linebackers coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2009 to 2011. He won Super Bowl LII as the linebackers coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.

Curtis Lee Fuller is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft.

Marvin Dale Jones is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for Appalachian State. He served in various capacities for Appalachian State (1996-2022), including three years as defensive coordinator (2010–2012). Jones previously worked as a defensive coordinator for Georgia Military College (1992–1996) and the Parma Panthers (1990) of the Italian Football League (IFL).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tennessee Titans: Ken Amato". Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Limestone College Saints Athletics - 2016 Football Coaching Staff". GoLimestoneSaints.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  3. ↑ Williams, Charean (February 21, 2018). "Cowboys hire Ken Amato as defensive assistant". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
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.