Jack Del Rio

Jack Del Rio Jr. was born on April 4, 1963, in Castro Valley, California. He attended Hayward High School where he was a multi-sport athlete, excelling in football, baseball, and basketball. After high school, Del Rio chose to attend the University of Southern California (USC), where he was a two-sport athlete in both football and baseball. In football, he was a four-year starter, earning third-team All-American honors in 1983 and consensus All-American honors in 1984. He was also a co-MVP of the 1985 Rose Bowl. In 2015, Del Rio was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame. His professional playing career in the NFL began in 1985 when he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints. He played as a linebacker for 11 seasons across multiple teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings, where he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1994. He finished his playing career in 1996 with the Miami Dolphins.

Del Rio transitioned to coaching in 1997, starting as an assistant strength coach with the New Orleans Saints before becoming their linebackers coach. He then moved to the Baltimore Ravens as linebackers coach in 1999, where he contributed to their Super Bowl XXXV championship defense in 2000. In 2002, he served as the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, leading their defense to the second rank in the league by total yards. His first head coaching role in the NFL came in 2003 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. During his nine seasons with the Jaguars, he led the team to a 68-71 regular season record and two playoff appearances, in 2005 and 2007. After his tenure with the Jaguars, he served as the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2012 to 2014, including a period as interim head coach in 2013.

In 2015, Del Rio became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. He guided the Raiders to a 12-4 record and their first playoff appearance since 2002 in 2016, earning the Greasy Neale Award. He was dismissed after the 2017 season. After time as an NFL analyst for ESPN in 2019, he joined the Washington Football Team (later Commanders) as defensive coordinator from 2020 through part of the 2023 season. In 2024, he held an advisory role with the Wisconsin Badgers before being announced as the head coach of the Paris Musketeers in the European League of Football (ELF) for the 2025 season.