Jeff Davidson (born October 3, 1967) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was the

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 ...

of 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

High school

Davidson attended Westerville North High School in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in football. He was also all state in football as well as all state in track & field in the shot put, where he holds his high school's school record at 60'3."

College

Davidson attended and played football for the

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Buckeyes from 1986 to 1989. He became a starter at offensive guard as a junior and earned All-Big Ten honors as a senior. He was also selected as a co-captain as a senior. His father Jim, an All-American tackle, had been Buckeye co-captain in 1964. The Davidsons became the first father-son captain duo in Ohio State history. They were followed by the Herbstreits (1960/1992) and the Johnsons (1984-1985/2007).

NFL

Davidson was drafted by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the 1990 NFL draft. He was with the Broncos for four seasons before signing with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

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 ...

, and retiring after suffering a shoulder injury.

Coaching career

New England Patriots

After retiring, Davidson stayed with the

as a volunteer assistant 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 was made an offensive assistant by the Saints in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. In

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 ...

, he was hired by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

as their

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach. At the end of the season, the Patriots promoted him to assistant offensive line coach, where he remained from

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 ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he again became the tight ends coach while retaining his assistant offensive line coaching duties.

Cleveland Browns

When Patriots

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Romeo Crennel left to become the Browns' head coach for the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

season, Davidson followed Crennel to Cleveland as the Browns' offensive line coach. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, Davidson was named the team's assistant head coach/offensive line coach. After six games of the Browns' season, offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon was fired and Davidson promoted in his place.

Carolina Panthers

Davidson was hired on January 24, 2007, as the offensive coordinator of the

. Having worked as a member of the

' staff under Charlie Weis, Davidson forged a close relationship with him. Weis is a good friend of former Panthers head coach John Fox, and it is believed that his recommendation was instrumental in Fox's decision to hire Davidson. With his playing and coaching experience at the offensive line and additional coaching with tight ends, most believe this hire meant that Coach Fox wanted to keep his focus on a powerful offense based on a strong running game, as has been his tendency in the past.

Minnesota Vikings

Head Coach Leslie Frazier announced Davidson would be joining the Vikings as offensive line coach on January 20, 2011. On January 12, 2016, head coach Mike Zimmer announced that Davidson's contract would not be renewed for the

2016 NFL season The 2016 NFL season was the 97th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 51st of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 8, 2016, with the defending Super Bowl 50 champion 2016 Denver Broncos season, Denve ...

San Diego Chargers

On January 14, 2016, the San Diego Chargers announced Jeff Davidson for new offensive line coach.

Denver Broncos

On January 14, 2017, Davidson was named offensive line coach of the Denver Broncos, joining recently fired San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy on the offensive staff for head coach Vance Joseph.

Detroit Lions

On February 7, 2018, Davidson was named offensive line coach of 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) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. On January 2, 2020, Davidson announced he was taking an "indefinite leave" from coaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Jeff 1967 births Living people Carolina Panthers coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches NFL offensive coordinators New Orleans Saints players New Orleans Saints coaches New England Patriots coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football players American football offensive linemen Players of American football from Akron, Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio