Jim Haslett

James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) is an American football coach and former linebacker, who is currently the linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. Previously, he served as the head coach for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League, and the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams in the National Football League.

Playing career

Haslett attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and was selected in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He was a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills until 1985, and played with the New York Jets in 1987. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year for 1979. In a 2005 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Haslett admitted to using steroids while playing for the Buffalo Bills. Haslett went on record saying that "everybody tried it" to gain a competitive advantage against opposing teams.^[1]

Coaching career

University at Buffalo

Haslett's first coaching position was as an assistant coach at the University at Buffalo. He is the second assistant coach of the Buffalo Bulls to move and become a head coach in the NFL. The first was Buddy Ryan.

NFL assistant coaching positions

Haslett began his NFL coaching career as a linebackers coach for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993. Haslett next coached linebackers for the New Orleans Saints in 1995 and was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 1996 season. Haslett then coordinated the Pittsburgh Steelers defense for the 1997 through 1999 seasons.

New Orleans Saints

In January 2000, Haslett was named head coach of the New Orleans Saints. That season, he guided the Saints to a 10–6 regular-season record, their second NFC West division championship, and the first playoff victory in franchise history (defeating the St. Louis Rams; they lost to the Minnesota Vikings the next week). As a result of the Saints' turnaround from their previous 3–13 season (under his predecessor, Mike Ditka), Haslett was named NFL Coach of the Year.

In 2005, Haslett's sixth season with the Saints, the team stumbled to a 3–13 record. The season was marred by Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans. This forced the franchise to temporarily relocate their operations to San Antonio, playing three of their 'home' games in the Alamodome. Another four home games were played in Baton Rouge at LSU's Tiger Stadium, and one took place at Giants Stadium in New Jersey (against the New York Giants). Haslett was fired after the close of the 2005 season and replaced by Sean Payton.

St. Louis Rams

Haslett became the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator to start the 2006 season. On September 29, 2008 Haslett was named the interim head coach of the Rams after Scott Linehan was fired. The Rams gave Haslett an interim coach's contract, containing a clause that promised him the permanent head coach's job if the team won at least six games that season. Within a few weeks, this clause was nullified by the NFL, because it violated the league's "Rooney Rule". He won his first game as interim head coach of the Rams with a 19-17 victory over the 4-1 Washington Redskins. That win was followed by a 34-14 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys on 19 October 2008. This brought the Rams to a 2-4 record. The team would lose their final 10 games, leaving Haslett with an interim record of 2-10 on the year. On January 15, 2009 the Rams announced that Haslett was no longer in consideration for the permanent head coaching position and that the team would be going in a "new direction".^[2]

Florida Tuskers

Haslett coached the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League during its inaugural season in 2009.^[3] The team went 6-0 but were upset in the first-ever UFL Championship Game by the Las Vegas Locomotives. He won UFL Coach of Year in their inaugural season.

Washington Redskins

Haslett was hired as the Washington Redskins defensive coordinator on January 12, 2010 under head coach Mike Shanahan. Haslett replaced the retiring Greg Blache.^[4] After many speculated he would be fired after the disastrous 2013 season, new head coach Jay Gruden announced Haslett would remain on the team for the upcoming 2014 season. On December 31, 2014, the Redskins announced that Haslett would leave the Redskins by mutual agreement.^[5]

Cincinnati Bengals

On January 15, 2016 he was hired as linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.^[6]

Coaching Tree

Coaches Haslett served under:

• Kay Stephenson, Sacramento Surge (1991-1992)
• Art Shell, Los Angeles Raiders (1993–1994)
• Jim Mora, New Orleans Saints (1995–1996)
• Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers (1997–1999)
• Scott Linehan, St. Louis Rams (2006–2008)
• Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins (2010-2013)
• Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins (2014)

Former Assistant Coaches that became NFL Head Coaches:

• Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers (2006-)
• Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins (2014-) Gruden served as offensive coordinator under Haslett in the UFL's Florida Tusker's 2009 season. Haslett later served as defensive coordinator under Gruden in the NFL's Washington Redskin's 2014 season (see above).

Former Assistant Coaches that became NCAA Head Coaches:

• Ron Zook, University of Florida (2002–2004), University of Illinois (2005-2011)
• John Bunting, University of North Carolina (2001–2006)
• Mike Riley, Oregon State University (2003-2014) Nebraska (2015-Present)

Head coaching record

*Interim head coach

Personal

Haslett once owned a horse ranch in Gasport, New York, called the "Double Nickel", named after his playing number, #55. He is married to Beth; the couple have three children; Kelsey, Chase & Libby.

References

External links

• Washington Redskins bio