Greg Scruggs (born August 17, 1990) is an assistant

defensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the New York Jets. Most recently he was the defensive line coach for

Cincinnati Bearcats football The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in hi ...

. Scruggs is a former

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

. He was drafted by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Early life

Scruggs was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and lived in the city's Winton Terrace housing project before joining the local

Boys Hope Girls Hope Boys Hope Girls Hope is an international charitable organization founded in 1977. Its mission is ''to nurture and guide motivated young people in need to become well-educated, career-ready men and women for others''. The program is long-term, ...

residential program in 2003. As a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, he lived in the Boys Hope House on campus. After playing the quad drums in the school marching band for three years and varsity basketball for two, he reluctantly joined the football team his senior year, at the behest of head coach Steve Specht. Scruggs graduated in 2008.

College career

Scruggs played defensive tackle for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

Cardinals and graduated in 2011.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Scruggs was selected as the 25th pick in the seventh round, 232nd overall, in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

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analyst

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks i ...

stated that Scruggs is a competitive defensive end with toughness and will have to battle for a backup spot on the Seahawks' roster. On August 27, 2013, the Seahawks placed Scruggs on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. The Seahawks announced on August 31, 2015, they waived Scruggs, making him a free agent.

Chicago Bears

On December 31, 2015, Scruggs signed with 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

. On January 3, 2016, Scruggs recorded his third career sack against the

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 ...

. During the 2016 offseason, Scruggs switched from the defensive end position to tight end. He was released by the Bears on September 27, 2016.

New England Patriots

On October 1, 2016, Scruggs was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 15, 2016 with a knee injury after being inactive for the first two games he was on the Patriots roster. Scruggs would not play when the Patriots won

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Ne ...

on February 5, 2017. Scruggs won his second Super Bowl championship after the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime.

Coaching career

In 2018, Scruggs joined

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He will be the head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers starting in December 2022. Previously he was the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati, ...

's staff at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

as the Director of Player Development. For the 2020 season, Scruggs was promoted to the

for the Bearcats. On March 3, 2022, it was reported that Scruggs accepted an assistant defensive line coach position with the New York Jets.

Personal life

Scruggs submitted the winning nomination of his high school coach, Steve Specht, for the 2013 Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award.