Aazaar Abdul-Rahim (born November 1, 1976) 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. He is currently the co-defensive coordinator and

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 ...

s coach at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He served as the head football coach at

Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School is a public high school in Washington, D.C. Established in 2000, the school serves students in grades 9–12 and is part of the Friendship Public Charter School network. History Friendship Coll ...

in his native

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 2003 to 2013.

Playing career

Abdul-Rahim played

for

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a Public college, public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the Unite ...

from 1995 through 1996, before transferring to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

. He played for the Aztecs from 1997 through 1999. Following his college career, he competed for the

San Diego Riptide The San Diego Riptide were a professional arena football team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the AF2. The team played its home games at the San Diego Sports Arena. The team was officially announced to the media on January 15, 2 ...

Coaching career

Friendship Collegiate Academy

Following his playing career, Abdul-Rahim founded the football program at Friendship Collegiate Academy in

in 2003. The school had only been open since 2000. The Knights started play in the 2004 season. After a winless inaugural season, Abdul-Rahim turned FCA into a national powerhouse, routinely playing top ranked teams from the area. In 2012, Abdul-Rahim led the Knight to a District of Columbia State Athletic Association championship. During his tenure, he won 62 games, and produced over 100 Division I football players.

Alabama

Abdul-Rahim joined the

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

football staff as a defensive analyst for the 2014 season. The next season, he was promoted to assistant director of player personnel. He was on the 2015 Alabama coaching staff that won the National Championship.

Maryland

In 2016, Abdul-Rahim joined new head coach D. J. Durkin's staff at

as the defensive backs coach. He was also a huge part of the recruiting efforts, particularly for his ties to the D.C. area. Abdul-Rahim was named a top 25 recruiter by both Rivals.com and 247sports in 2017. In 2018, he shifted his focus from the entire secondary, to primarily working with the

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

UMass

In 2019, new head coach

Walt Bell Walter A. Bell IV (born June 7, 1984) is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Western Michigan University, positions he has held since 2024. He was the head coach ...

hired Abdul-Rahim as the new

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 ...

and cornerbacks coach at

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the public university system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, a medical school in Worcester and a law school in Dartmouth ...

Boston College

In 2020, new head coach

Jeff Hafley Jeff Hafley (born April 4, 1979) is an American professional football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at Boston College from 2020 to 2 ...

hired Abdul-Rahim as the new

defensive backs 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 ...

coach at

Boston College Eagles football The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of t ...

. Prior to the 2021 season, Abdul-Rahim was promoted to associate head coach and defensive pass game coordinator.

Personal life

Abdul-Rahim also founded “Cover One”, a defensive back training academy that has worked with dozens of NFL players.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul-Rahim, Aazaar 1976 births Living people American football defensive backs Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches Mesa Thunderbirds football players San Diego Riptide players San Diego State Aztecs football players UMass Minutemen football coaches High school football coaches in Washington, D.C. Junior college football players in the United States Players of American football from Washington, D.C.