William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

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(NFL). He has also served as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for multiple NFL teams. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

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, earning all-conference honors in the Pac-10. He is also the uncle of

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

tight end Luke Musgrave as well as the dad o
CardsHQ
Carter Musgrave. Musgrave is a 21-year coaching veteran with 19 years of NFL experience as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator. He has previously coached in the NFL with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

(2017–18),

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

(2015–16, 1997),

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

(2014, 1998),

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

(2011–13),

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

(2006–10),

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

(2005),

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

(2003–04) and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

(1999–2000). During his coaching career, Musgrave helped three different quarterbacks to

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

seasons: Derek Carr (2015–16), Matt Ryan (2010) and Steve Beuerlein (1999).

Early life

Musgrave attended Grand Junction High School, earning All-conference honors at

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

as a sophomore. The next year he was named the starter at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and earned All-conference honors in his last 2 seasons. He was the Colorado High School Athlete of the Year in 1985, after registering 30

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

passes (a state record). He also received the Denver Post Gold Helmet Award as the state's top scholar football athlete.

College career

Musgrave accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, at a time when the school had only four winning seasons in the last 22 years and hadn't been invited to a bowl game since 1963. He became a starter as a freshman, leading his team to a No. 16 national ranking, including wins against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

and Washington. As a sophomore, he helped Oregon achieve a top-20 ranking and a 6–1 record, until breaking his collarbone against

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. The team went winless in the last 4 games. As a junior, he posted 3,081 passing yards, 22

s and 16

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s. Against BYU, he passed for a then school-record 489 yards, combining with Cougars

Ty Detmer who tallied 470 passing yards, to set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record for passing yardage in a game by two players. As a senior, he was named team MVP, first-team All-conference quarterback, GTE Academic

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

of the Year, and earned a Scholar-Athlete Award by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. In his final game he injured his shoulder in the fourth quarter against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, only to return and throw a 16-yard

pass with 2:10 remaining for a 28–24 win. He was a four-year starter at

and a three-year team captain, while leading the Oregon to its first

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

in 26 years and to back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in school history. He finished with 8,343 passing yards, a 57.4 passing percentage, 60

s and 40

s. Musgrave finished as the school's all-time leader in passing yards and total offense, until being broken by Marcus Mariota in 2014. He set 15 passing records, while his 60 career passing touchdowns and 8,343 career yardage ranked second only to John Elway in Pacific-10 Conference history. In 1996, he was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.

College statistics

*1987: 139/234 for 1,836 yards with 13 TD vs 8 INT. *1988: 62/121 for 815 yards with 8 TD vs 4 INT. *1989: 231/401 for 3,081 yards with 22 TD vs 16 INT. *1990: 173/301 for 2,219 yards with 14 TD vs 12 INT.

Professional career

Musgrave was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 1991 NFL draft. He went into

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

with Troy Aikman, Babe Laufenberg and Cliff Stoudt at

. On August 25, the Cowboys traded for Steve Beuerlein to improve the backup position and released Musgrave and Stoudt, opting to keep just two quarterbacks. On August 28,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, he was signed to the practice squad by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. He was promoted to the active roster in week 11 and made his professional debut in the week 17 game against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, throwing for a touchdown and 33 yards, after replacing Steve Young late in the contest. The next year, he was the fourth-string quarterback, until being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

on December 15. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he was named the team's third-string quarterback and was rarely activated on game days although he did appear in

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

where he threw a pass for 6 yards. He played under head coach George Seifert and offensive coordinators

Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...

and

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan ( ; born August 24, 1952) is an American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led th ...

. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

, reuniting with Shanahan, who was the new team's head coach. He was the backup quarterback behind John Elway, starting a game in 1996 against the Packers when Elway was injured before announcing his retirement on July 22,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Following a brief coaching stint as the quarterbacks coach of the

, Musgrave signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

on April 8,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, but was released during training camp.

Coaching career

1997−1998

Immediately after being released as a player, Musgrave joined the

as a quarterbacks coach in 1997 under head coach Joe Bugel. When the Raiders fired Bugel following the season, Musgrave attempted another try as a player with the Colts in 1998, but was released during training camp. He was immediately hired by the

as an offensive assistant under Ray Rhodes, a former 49ers assistant coach. Musgrave was promoted to

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and called plays in place of Dana Bible for the final 10 games of the season. However, Musgrave was not retained by new head coach Andy Reid when Rhodes was fired at the end of the season.

Carolina Panthers

Musgrave was hired as the quarterbacks coach under George Seifert with the

in 1999, in an arrangement that saw he and Seifert having a heavy hand in calling the plays over offensive coordinator Gil Haskell. Upon Haskell's departure to Seattle, Musgrave was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000. The team chose him to replace Haskell, who was a holdover from a previous staff, due to his favorable relationship with Seifert as well as his experience calling plays the previous season. However, as an inexperienced coordinator, Musgrave had faltered at times, been criticized in the media for choices in playcalling, and was at one point rumored to have been yelled at by Seifert in front of the team. Musgrave resigned from the position after three games.

Virginia

Musgrave was hired as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and tight ends coach under Al Groh for the Virginia Cavaliers in 2001, tutoring quarterback Matt Schaub to school records in his two years as coach.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Musgrave was hired as the offensive coordinator for the

under new head coach Jack Del Rio in 2003. In 2004, he picked up additional duties as quarterbacks coach before he was fired at the conclusion of the season.

Atlanta Falcons

Musgrave was the quarterbacks coach for the

from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Musgrave was promoted to assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach. Coaching quarterbacks with very different skillsets, Musgrave played a large role in the development of

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

(2006), Matt Schaub (2006) and Matt Ryan (2008–10).

Minnesota Vikings

Musgrave was hired by the

to the position of offensive coordinator under head coach Leslie Frazier on January 16, 2011. The Vikings posted the top-ranked rushing offense in the league over that span, and Adrian Peterson had his 2,000 rushing yards season and received the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2012. After three seasons with the Vikings, he was not retained by new head coach Mike Zimmer after the 2013 season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Musgrave was hired by the

as the team's quarterbacks coach on January 27, 2014. The Eagles finished sixth in the league in passing offense (272.3 ypg) despite splitting time between two quarterbacks. Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez started eight games apiece for the Eagles and combined to throw for 4,581 yards—a total topped by only five NFL quarterbacks that season.

Oakland Raiders

Musgrave was hired by head coach Jack Del Rio for a second time, on January 19, 2015, to serve as offensive coordinator. Musgrave took over an offense that ranked last in the NFL in total offense (282.2 ypg) and 31st in scoring (15.9 ppg) in 2014. The Raiders made the biggest offensive improvement in the NFL in yards per game (+91.1) and scoring (+10.2 ppg) in two seasons under Musgrave, finishing in the top seven in the league in both categories in 2016 (373.3 ypg/26.0 ppg). The Raiders' offensive resurgence was spurred by the development of quarterback Derek Carr, who in two seasons in Musgrave's offense passed for nearly 8,000 yards to go along with 60 touchdowns. On January 10, 2017, Musgrave's contract was not renewed, and was let go by head coach Jack Del Rio after losing to the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in a wild card playoff game.

Denver Broncos

Musgrave was hired by the Broncos on January 13, 2017, to serve as the quarterbacks coach under new head coach Vance Joseph. He was promoted to offensive coordinator following the firing of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on November 20, 2017. The Broncos posted a 6–10 record during the 2018–19 season. Musgrave's offense finished ranked 19th in total yards, 12th in rushing yards, and 19th in passing yards. Following the 2018–19 season, the Broncos hired Vic Fangio as head coach and did not retain Musgrave.

California

On January 3, 2020, Musgrave was announced as the offensive coordinator for the California Golden Bears, replacing Beau Baldwin and marking his return to the college ranks after 18 years. Musgrave was let go on November 13, 2022, after the Golden Bears lost their sixth game in a row to Oregon State.

Cleveland Browns

On February 26, 2023, Musgrave was hired as a senior offensive assistant for the

under head coach Kevin Stefanski. Musgrave was promoted to the role of quarterbacks coach on January 28, 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrave, Bill 1967 births Living people American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons coaches California Golden Bears football coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Dallas Cowboys players Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Oregon Ducks football players NFL offensive coordinators Philadelphia Eagles coaches San Francisco 49ers players Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Washington Redskins coaches Sportspeople from Grand Junction, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado Coaches of American football from Colorado