Brock Coyle (born October 12, 1990) 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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He played college football at

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2014.

College career

Coyle played college football at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

. As a true freshman in 2009, he collected thirty tackles and two interceptions as a linebacker, then

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2010 following off-season surgery. In 2011, he played in all fourteen games for the Grizzlies, and was the team's sixteenth leading tackler despite not starting a single game. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, Coyle enjoyed a breakout season when he started eleven games and tallied 107 tackles. His average of 9.73 tackles a game ranked him 28th in the nation, and he was an honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection. As a fifth-year senior in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, Coyle had his finest college season with the Grizzlies while starting at inside linebacker, leading the team with 125 total tackles, which put him among the nation's leaders. He forced four fumbles and intercepted two passes, giving him five interceptions for his college football career, and was a second-team All-Big Sky selection. While at Montana, Coyle was teammates with future NFL linebacker

Jordan Tripp Jordan Lee Tripp (born April 3, 1991) is a former American football inside linebacker. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Montana. High school Tripp attended Big Sky Hi ...

and cornerback Trumaine Johnson.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Although Coyle went undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft, he was signed to a professional contract by the Seattle Seahawks just minutes after the draft's completion. Seahawks coaches praised Coyle for his productive play during the NFL preseason while he filled in for injured middle linebacker

Bobby Wagner Bobby Joseph Wagner (born June 27, 1990) is an American football inside linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah State, and was drafted in the second round of the 2012 NFL D ...

. Coyle started his first NFL regular season game at middle linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday November 2, 2014, while playing against the Oakland Raiders. Coyle had a successful career with the Seahawks, mostly as a core special teamer, while also starting 5 games. Coyle tallied 33 tackles and 1.0 sack in three years. One of Coyle's best games was when he started at Strongside linebacker against the Buffalo Bills. On Monday Night Football, Coyle had his first career sack, along with 8 tackles on the night. When Coyle was given time, Carroll was generally pleased with his play.

San Francisco 49ers

On March 10, 2017, Coyle signed a one-year contract with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

. On March 14, 2018, Coyle signed a three-year contract extension with the 49ers. He was placed on injured reserve on September 12, 2018, after suffering a concussion in Week 1. On March 14, 2019, Coyle was released by the 49ers, and subsequently announced his retirement from the NFL, stating that a broken bone in his back prevented him from returning.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks: Brock CoyleOfficial Website: Brock Coyle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coyle, Brock Living people 1990 births American football linebackers Players of American football from Montana Sportspeople from Bozeman, Montana Montana Grizzlies football players Seattle Seahawks players San Francisco 49ers players