A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, with the head coach being the first level. The primary role of the defensive coordinator is managing the roster of defensive players, overseeing the assistant coaches, developing the defensive game plan, and calling plays for the defense during the game. The defensive coordinator typically manages multiple position coaches, each of whom are responsible for various defensive positions on the team.
Harold Wade Phillips is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also served as interim head coach for the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and the Houston Texans. His career winning percentage as a head coach is .546. Additionally, Phillips has long been considered to be among the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. In his long career, he has served as defensive coordinator in eight separate stints with seven different franchises. Multiple players under Phillips' system have won Defensive Player of the Year: Reggie White, Bryce Paup, Bruce Smith, J. J. Watt and Aaron Donald. Others under Phillips have won Defensive Rookie of the Year: Mike Croel and Shawne Merriman.
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.
Jerry Don Gray is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant head coach/defense for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Gray played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he garnered All-American honors. Thereafter, he played professionally for the Los Angeles Rams, Houston Oilers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
Romeo Crennel is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Crennel served as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012, as well an assistant coach for six NFL teams and four collegiate teams. He has over 50 years of coaching experience, which has included consistently being employed as a coach for all but two seasons since 1970, only taking the 2009 and 2013 seasons off following both of his tenures as a permanent head coach. He has five Super Bowl wins as assistant coach, two with the New York Giants and three with the New England Patriots.
Charles Richard "Dick" LeBeau is a former American football cornerback and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was active at field level in the NFL for 59 consecutive seasons, 14 as a player with the Detroit Lions and 45 as a coach. LeBeau spent the majority of his coaching career as a defensive assistant, most notably as the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Described as an "innovator" and "defensive football genius", he is considered to be one of the greatest defensive coordinators of all time.
Monte George Kiffin is an American football coach. He is currently a player personnel analyst at Ole Miss for his son, Lane Kiffin. He is widely considered to be one of the preeminent defensive coordinators in modern football, as well as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history. Father of the widely imitated "Tampa 2" defense, Kiffin's concepts are among the most influential in modern college and pro football.
Tracy Quinton Rocker is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL).
Thomas "Pepper" Johnson is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL). He played in the National Football League for 13 seasons, the first seven of which were for the New York Giants. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants before playing for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
DeMeco Ryans is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). Ryans played college football at the University of Alabama, where he was named a unanimous All-American.
Kevin Steele is an American football coach and former player, currently serving as the defensive coordinator at the University of Alabama. Steele has previously worked as defensive coordinator at Miami, Auburn, LSU, Clemson, and coached inside linebackers at Alabama. From 1999 to 2002, Steele served as the head football coach at Baylor University, compiling a record of 9–36 overall and 1–31 in the Big 12 Conference.
Eugene C. Chizik Jr. is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and served as the head coach of the Auburn football team from 2009 until the end of the 2012 season. Chizik's 2010 Auburn Tigers football team completed a 14–0 season with a victory over Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game, and quarterback Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy. Chizik played college football at the University of Florida in 1981 for head coach Charley Pell.
Charles Rene Strong is an American football coach who is currently the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Miami. He recently served as the assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) in 2021 and also previously served as a defensive analyst at the University of Alabama in 2020.
Stephen Christopher Spagnuolo is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He rejoined Andy Reid after being a defensive assistant with him from 1999 to 2006. Spagnuolo has won three Super Bowls as defensive coordinator, one with the New York Giants and two with the Kansas City Chiefs, making him the only coordinator in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises.
Steven Bernard Wilks is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He has also been the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers, and the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns and Missouri.
Melvin Tucker II is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, Tucker served as the head football coach at Colorado for the 2019 season.
Kirby Paul Smart is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, his alma mater. As head coach, he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back National Championship victories in 2022 and 2023.
Daniel Patrick Quinn is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks from 2013 to 2014, serving as the play-caller for the team's Legion of Boom secondary. Under Quinn, Seattle led the league in defense and made two consecutive Super Bowl appearances, winning the franchise's first in Super Bowl XLVIII. This success led to Quinn being named head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, where he served for six seasons.
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators.
Ejiro Evero is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers.
