Ken Zampese

Last updated

Ken Zampese
Ken Zampese (cropped).jpg
Zampese with the Washington Football Team in 2020
Atlanta Falcons
Position:Senior offensive assistant
Personal information
Born: (1967-07-19) July 19, 1967 (age 56)
Career information
High school: San Diego (CA) University
College: San Diego
Career history
As a coach:
Coaching stats at PFR

Kenneth Zampese (born July 19, 1967) is an American football coach who is a senior offensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Zampese began his coaching career at the University of San Diego, his alma mater, and has held a variety of college and NFL coaching positions. He is the son of former NFL coach Ernie Zampese.

Contents

Family background

Zampese's father, Ernie Zampese, spent 36 years as a coach in the NFL with the New York Jets, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, and both the Los Angeles Rams and St. Louis Rams. [1] Ernie Zampese is known best for his role on the Chargers' offensive coaching staff in the 1970s and 1980s, when he helped engineer the famed Air Coryell offense. The offense is still considered one of the best passing offenses in NFL history—featured Hall of Famers Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow, along with John Jefferson and Wes Chandler. These dynamic players operated in a scheme that led the league in passing yards an NFL-record six consecutive seasons (1978–1983).

Zampese attended the University of San Diego from 1985 to 1988, where he played on the football team as a wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner. He was also a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity. [2]

Career

Early coaching

Zampese began his NFL coaching career in 1998 as an offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles under head coach Ray Rhodes. In 1999, Rhodes became head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and Zampese followed. He again worked as offensive assistant, mentored by quarterbacks coach Mike McCarthy. Packer quarterbacks of that era were Brett Favre, Matt Hasselbeck and Aaron Brooks.

St. Louis Rams

Zampese joined the St. Louis Rams in 2000 as an offensive assistant under head coach Mike Martz. He was promoted the following season to WRs coach, and again the next season to WRs coach/passing game coordinator. During his stint in St. Louis, Zampese assisted Martz with the passing game of what became known as "The Greatest Show on Turf" – a nickname for the Rams' high-powered, record-setting offense. It was here that he gained additional exposure to the "3-Digit" passing system, pioneered by his father and expanded to new heights under Martz.

Quarterback Kurt Warner (and backups Trent Green and Marc Bulger), Hall of Fame RB Marshall Faulk, and WRs Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl made up what is widely considered the most prolific offense in NFL history.

Although "The Greatest Show on Turf" began its record-setting run a year prior to Zampese's arrival in St. Louis – the 1999 Super Bowl XXXIV Rams' Super Bowl championship season – it lasted three seasons (1999–2001), and he was with the Rams for the final two seasons of the run (2000–01).

Cincinnati Bengals

Zampese joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 as quarterbacks coach at a time when the team was searching for a quarterback to lead the franchise. He aided in the scouting and evaluation of the quarterbacks in the 2003 NFL Draft, as the team used its No. 1 overall pick to select 2002 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer of Southern California. On September 15, 2017, Zampese was fired by the Bengals after the team started the season 0–2 and did not score a single touchdown. [3]

Cleveland Browns

On January 12, 2018, Zampese was hired by the Cleveland Browns as quarterbacks coach, reuniting him with Browns head coach and former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. [4] After the 2018 season, during which Jackson was fired, he was not retained by new head coach Freddie Kitchens. [5]

Atlanta Legends

In the 2019 AAF season, the Atlanta Legends were plagued by various offensive coaching resignations, including head coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Michael Vick before the season, and quarterbacks coach/play caller Richard Bartel after three games. [6] Zampese was hired by the Legends starting with the fourth game against the Arizona Hotshots. [7]

Washington Football Team / Commanders

In 2020, Zampese joined the Washington Football Team as their quarterbacks coach. [8] In 2023, Zampese was given a senior offensive advisor/game management role. [9] He was not retained following the firing of Ron Rivera and hiring of new head coach Dan Quinn.

Atlanta Falcons

Zampese was hired as a senior offensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ "Innovative former NFL OC Ernie Zampese dies at age 86". ESPN.com . Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  2. ↑ Smith, Andrew (Winter 2002). "Sigma Pi on the Gridiron" (PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 88, no. 1. pp. 4, 26–27.
  3. ↑ Patra, Kevin (September 15, 2017). "Bengals fire offensive coordinator Ken Zampese". National Football League . Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ Cabot, Mary Kay (January 12, 2018). "Browns hiring Ken Zampese as quarterbacks coach in reunion with Hue Jackson". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ Clark, Dave (January 9, 2019). "Report: Ken Zampese won't be part of Freddie Kitchens' Cleveland Browns staff". The Cincinnati Enquirer . Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ Crabtree, Curtis (February 25, 2019). "Atlanta AAF team loses another offensive coach as Rich Bartel resigns". Profootballtalk.com . Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  7. ↑ Perloff, Andrew [@andrewperloff] (March 4, 2019). "Interesting @TheAAF note... former Bengals OC, Browns QBs coach Ken Zampese came aboard to run offense for @AafLegends this week and helped QB Aaron Murray lead them win tonight. Zampese was with Andy Dalton for long time and Baker Mayfield last year" (Tweet). Retrieved March 3, 2019– via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "Redskins Announce Coaching Staff". Redskins.com. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  9. ↑ Washington Commanders Public Relations (February 28, 2023). "Commanders announce staff changes". Commanders.com. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ Williams, Charean. "Falcons announce six more assistants, including Tim Berbenich, Ken Zampese". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
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