Jack Del Rio

Jack Louis Del Rio, Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was a professional football player who played linebacker for four teams over eleven years in the NFL. Del Rio attended the University of Southern California, where he played football and baseball for the Trojans.

Del Rio became a coach after his retirement and was hired to his current position as head coach of the Raiders in January 2015. He had previously been the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003 until 2011 and was the second coach in the team's history.

Del Rio is a one time Super Bowl champion, having been the linebackers coach on the Super Bowl XXXV-winning Baltimore Ravens. He has also served as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers, and the Denver Broncos, serving as the defensive coordinator for the latter two squads.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Del Rio was born in Castro Valley, California to a father of Spanish descent^[4] and mother of Italian descent. He and former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu were teammates in baseball and football while at Hayward High School in Hayward, California.^[5] He was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1981 amateur baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, but did not sign.^[6]

Playing career

College career

Del Rio was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball out of high school in 1981, but opted instead to attend college. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he played both baseball and football for the USC Trojans. In football he was an All-American linebacker and was voted Most Valuable Player of the 1985 Rose Bowl. During his senior year he earned consensus All-America honors as a senior and was runner-up for the Lombardi Award. In baseball he batted .340 while playing catcher on a team that also included future Major League Baseball players Mark McGwire and Randy Johnson.

Del Rio's roommate at USC was former ESPN football analyst and former NFL and CFL quarterback Sean Salisbury.

Underscoring the UCLA–USC rivalry, on December 12, 2006 Del Rio appeared at a press conference wearing a UCLA basketball jersey after losing a bet with ex-UCLA running back Maurice Jones-Drew.^[7] 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.

Del Rio earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Kansas in 1990, while he was a player for the Kansas City Chiefs.^[8]

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) who he represented at 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. Del Rio notes retirement as one of the toughest things he's ever had to do.

Jack Del Rio during his tenure with the Vikings

Coaching career

Early years

Del Rio began his coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in 1997, hired by head coach Mike Ditka as the strength and conditioning coach. In 1999, he accepted a position with the Baltimore Ravens as the linebackers' coach. He is in part credited for the success of the Ravens' defense, particularly in the 2000 season. After the 2001 season, he was named defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers and in his first season, in 2002, he led them to the second best defense in the league.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In 2003, Del Rio became the second head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars following Tom Coughlin's dismissal. In his first season, he led the team to a 5–11 record. That year, Jacksonville finished the season with the second-ranked rush defense and sixth best overall defense, having ranked 25th and 20th in those two categories, respectively, the year prior. In 2004, the Jaguars narrowly missed the playoffs with a 9–7 record, the first winning record in five seasons. The following season, the team made the playoffs for the first time since advancing all the way to the AFC title game in 1999. They qualified as a wild card; however, the season was ended with a 28–3 loss to the New England Patriots.

After missing the playoffs in 2006, Jacksonville cut quarterback Byron Leftwich in favor of David Garrard. The team returned to the playoffs in 2007 winning their first playoff game since 1999.^[9] On April 3, 2008, Del Rio's contract with the Jaguars was extended through the 2012 season.^[10]

On January 11, 2010, Del Rio was offered the head coaching job at USC, his alma mater. The next day he denied receiving an offer from USC, stating that the offer was "manufactured".^[11] Later that afternoon, he rebuffed USC officially, announcing that he would remain with the Jaguars at least through the duration of his current contract.

On November 29, 2011, Del Rio was fired as Jacksonville's head coach. He left with a regular season record of 68–71 and a 1–2 record in two playoff appearances over his nine years.^[9]

"Keep chopping wood"

The mantra "Keep chopping wood", introduced by Del Rio during the 2003 season, was intended to indicate how the team would slowly whittle away the huge obstacles in front of them. Del Rio placed a wooden stump and axe in the Jaguars' locker room as a symbol of his rallying cry.

After his teammates had been taking swings at the wood with the axe, Punter Chris Hanson followed suit and seriously wounded his non-kicking foot. Hanson missed the remainder of the 2003 season, being replaced by Mark Royals.^[12]

Sideline attire

Del Rio became the second NFL head coach since 1993 to wear a suit on the sidelines during a November 20, 2006 regular season contest against the New York Giants, immediately following then San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan who had sported the look the previous day in a win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Del Rio's Jaguars won that game by a score of 26–10. Previously, a sponsorship deal between the NFL and Reebok prohibited coaches from wearing anything but Reebok clothing, but a series of events—including Nolan petitioning for permission to wear a suit and Reebok planning to unveil a formal line of clothing in 2007—led to the NFL adopting a rule that permits coaches to wear a suit twice a year.^[13] During the 2007 NFL season, both Del Rio and Nolan were given permission to wear a suit at all eight of their respective teams regular season home games.

Since his firing as Jaguars coach, however, he no longer wears a suit and is seen simply wearing team-issued apparel in his subsequent coaching jobs.

Denver Broncos

On January 27, 2012, Del Rio was hired as the new defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. In week two, Del Rio was fined $25,000 for berating the replacement officials.^[14]

On November 4, 2013, Del Rio was handed the head coaching duties and named interim head coach for several games when head coach John Fox was sidelined due to medical reasons.^[15]

Oakland Raiders

On January 14, 2015, Del Rio was hired to become the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders, replacing the fired Dennis Allen (who coincidentally had preceded him as the Broncos defensive coordinator) and interim head coach Tony Sparano.^[16]

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Jack Del Rio has served:

• Mike Ditka, New Orleans Saints (1997–1998)
• Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens (1999–2001)
• John Fox, Carolina Panthers (2002), Denver Broncos (2012–2014)

Assistant coaches under Jack Del Rio who have become NFL head coaches:

• Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons (2008–2014)

Assistant coaches under Jack Del Rio who have become college head coaches:

• Brian VanGorder, Georgia Southern (2006)
• Tom Williams, Yale University (2009–2011)

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

• Selected to USC Athletic Hall of Fame (2014)^[18]
• NCAA Silver Anniversary award (2010)^[19]
• Super Bowl champion (XXXV) as coach.
• All-Pro selection (1994)
• Pro Bowl selection (1994)
• NFL’s All-Rookie Team (1985)
• Saints’ Rookie of the Year award (1985)
• CO-MVP of Rose Bowl (1985)^[20]
• All-America honors as a senior (1984)
• Pop Warner Trophy (1984)

References

External links

• Oakland Raiders profile