Jack Del Rio

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Jack Del Rio
Jack Del Rio in 1993
Date of birth	April 3, 1963
Place of birth	Castro Valley, California
Position(s)	LB Head Coach
College	Southern California
NFL Draft	1985 / Round 3
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1985-1986 1987-1988 1989-1991 1992-1995	New Orleans Saints Kansas City Chiefs Dallas Cowboys Minnesota Vikings
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
2003-Present	Jacksonville Jaguars

Jack Del Rio, Jr. (born April 3, 1963 in Castro Valley, California) is a former American football player and is the current head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Contents 1 Early life 2 College Career 3 Professional Career 4 Coaching Career 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Del Rio attended and played football for Hayward High School in Hayward, California.

[edit] College Career

Del Rio was an All-American linebacker at the University of Southern California and was MVP of the 1985 Rose Bowl. Drafted by baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays in 1981, Del Rio batted .340 while playing catcher on USC’s baseball team with Mark McGwire and Randy Johnson. In football, during his senior year, he earned consensus All-America honors as a senior and was runner-up for the Lombardi Award. He chose football.

Del Rio's roommate at USC was Sean Salisbury.

Underscoring the rivalry between USC and UCLA, Del Rio, on December 12, 2006, appeared at a press conference wearing a UCLA basketball jersey after losing a bet with current Jaguars and ex-UCLA running back Maurice Jones-Drew [1]. UCLA's football team had recorded one of the biggest upsets in school history by defeating USC the previous week. However, after acknowledging his loss in the bet, he removed the UCLA jersey, revealing a USC polo shirt underneath.

[edit] Professional Career

Del Rio was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 3rd round of the 1985 NFL Draft. His 11-year career was spent between the Saints (1985-1986), the Kansas City Chiefs (1987-1988), Dallas Cowboys (1989-1991), and Minnesota Vikings (1992-1995). He played in the 1994 Pro Bowl. Signed by the Miami Dolphins before the 1996 season, Del Rio retired when he lost his job to rookie Zach Thomas.

[edit] Coaching Career

Del Rio began his coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in 1997 as the Strength and Conditioning coach. In 1999, he accepted a position with the Baltimore Ravens as their linebackers coach. He is credited for the success of the Ravens' defense. After the 2001 season, he was named defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers. He led them to the second best defense in the league that season. However, he was not with the team in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

In 2003 Del Rio became the 2nd head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars following Tom Coughlin's dismissal. He led the team to a dismal 5-11 record to start and was immediately questioned. However, the next year the team saw a much improved roster with Defensive tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson anchoring the defense around the line. In 2004, the Jaguars narrowly missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record, the first winning record in five seasons. The following season proved to be a blessing as the team made the playoffs as the 1st wild card team with a 12-4 record. However, the season was ended dismally with a 28-3 loss to the New England Patriots. The team was welcomed back with warm arms and Del Rio was given much praise for the first playoff appearance in five years. Del Rio was quoted as saying: "This wasn't our year, it was the Steelers'. Next year is ours."

[edit] External links

• Jack's Career Stats as an NFL linebacker
• Jack Del Rio Profile at USC Legends

Preceded by: Tom Coughlin	Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coaches 2003–present	Succeeded by: Current coach
Preceded by: '	Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinators 2002	Succeeded by: Mike Trgovac

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coaches
Coughlin • Del Rio

Current National Football League head coaches
Belichick • Billick • Childress • Coughlin • Cowher • Crennel • Del Rio • Dungy • Edwards • Fisher • Fox • Gibbs • Green • Gruden • Holmgren • Jauron • Kubiak • Lewis • Linehan • Mangini • McCarthy • Marinelli • Mora • Nolan • Parcells • Payton • Reid • Saban • Schottenheimer • Shanahan • Shell • Smith