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Jack Del Rio
Jack Del Rio in 1993
Date of birth	March 3, 1963 (age 44)
Place of birth	Castro Valley, California
Position(s)	LB Head Coach
College	USC
NFL Draft	1985 / Round 3 / Pick 68
Career Record	34-30-0 (Regular Season) 0-1 (Postseason) 34-31-0 (Overall)
Playing Stats	Pro Football Reference
Playing Stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching Stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching 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
1997-1998 1999-2000 2001-2002 2003-Present	New Orleans Saints (strength and conditioning coach) Baltimore Ravens (linebackers coach) Carolina Panthers (defensive coordinator) Jacksonville Jaguars (head coach)

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 4.1 Keep Chopping Wood 4.2 The Suit 5 External links 6 References

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

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.

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.

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."^{[citation needed]}

During his first season with the Jaguars, after the team started 0-3, Del Rio had a massive tree stump placed in the team locker room, with an axe, and a sign that had his new team mantra, "Keep Chopping Wood", indicating how they were to slowly whittle away the huge obstacle in the way of improving the team. Punter Chris Hanson unfortunately miscalibrated his swing and gashed open his leg. He was rushed to the hospital and his leg was stitched up, but he was lost for the season. (he did return next year and remains the Jaguars punter through 2006).

Del Rio became the second NFL head coach to wear a suit on the sidelines since 1993 during a November 20, 2006 regular season contest against the New York Giants, immediately following 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 two times a year.^[1]

Del Rio wore a suit again during a December 10, 2006 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The score in that game was 44-17.

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

1. ^ First Coast News

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

Jacksonville Jaguars v • d • e
Franchise • History • Players • Quarterbacks Jacksonville Municipal Stadium • Wayne Weaver • Jaxson de Ville Club Head Coaches Coughlin • Del Rio Seasons 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007

Current Head Coaches of the National Football League
American Football Conference
East	North	South	West
Jauron (Buffalo)	Billick (Baltimore)	Kubiak (Houston)	Shanahan (Denver)
Cameron (Miami)	Lewis (Cincinnati)	Dungy (Indianapolis)	Edwards (Kansas City)
Belichick (New England)	Crennel (Cleveland)	Del Rio (Jacksonville)	Kiffin (Oakland)
Mangini (NY Jets)	Tomlin (Pittsburgh)	Fisher (Tennessee)	Turner (San Diego)
National Football Conference
East	North	South	West
Phillips (Dallas)	Smith (Chicago)	Petrino (Atlanta)	Whisenhunt (Arizona)
Coughlin (NY Giants)	Marinelli (Detroit)	Fox (Carolina)	Linehan (St. Louis)
Reid (Philadelphia)	McCarthy (Green Bay)	Payton (New Orleans)	Nolan (San Francisco)
Gibbs (Washington)	Childress (Minnesota)	Gruden (Tampa Bay)	Holmgren (Seattle)