Danny Crossman (born January 17, 1967) is an

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

coach who is the

special teams coordinator In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). Previously, he served as special teams coordinator for the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

(2007–2009),

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

(2010–2012), and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

(2013–2018).

Playing career

Crossman was a second-team all-America and all-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He lettered two seasons (1987 and 1989) as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and one (1988) as the Panthers’ starting fullback. As a senior, he served as team captain and was named the squad’s

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

as he led the Panthers to the 1989

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl ...

. He also played one season at

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, where he was a Freshman All-America by The Sporting News in 1985 before following KU head coach

Mike Gottfried Mike Gottfried (born December 17, 1944) is a sportscaster and former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Murray State University (1978–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1981–1982), the University of ...

to Pittsburgh. Crossman signed as a free agent with the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in 1990. He made the squad, but was put on

injured reserve 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 th ...

after just three games. He also spent time on injured reserve with the

in 1991 and 1992. He captained the

London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of t ...

in 1991 and 1992, earning All-League honors. He recorded three interceptions and earned MVP honors in the inaugural

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

, leading the Monarchs to the league title.

Coaching career

Crossman began his coaching career at the

U.S. Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast Gu ...

in 1993 where he coached the defensive backs and special teams. Crossman spent 2003-2009 as a member of the Carolina Panthers coaching staff. He was the Panthers special teams coordinator over his last 5 seasons with the team. Crossman was hired by the Detroit Lions in 2010 as special teams coordinator. On September 30, 2012, against the Lions, the Minnesota Vikings returned a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown for the first time in a single game in franchise history. On February 8, 2019, the

announced Crossman as their special teams coordinator. He received an additional title of assistant head coach on March 11, 2021.

Personal life

Crossman earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and communications from Pittsburgh in 1990. He and his wife, Susan, have a son, Kyle, and a daughter, Kaylie.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crossman, Danny 1967 births Living people Players of American football from El Paso, Texas Kansas Jayhawks football players Pittsburgh Panthers football players London Monarchs players UCF Knights football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Detroit Lions coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Miami Dolphins coaches