Al Roberts (born January 6, 1944) 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. He serves as the

special teams 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s, and

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

s coach for the

O'Dea High School O'Dea High School is a Roman Catholicism, Catholic all boys high school founded in 1923 and is located in Seattle's First Hill, Seattle, First Hill neighborhood. The school is named after Edward John O'Dea who was bishop of Seattle when the sch ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington.

Playing career

Roberts attended Merced High School in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...

and played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

from 1964 to 1965, and the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

from 1967 to 1968. He holds a holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Puget Sound.

Coaching career

Roberts began his coaching career at Mercer Island High School from 1969 to 1972, then became the head coach at Garfield High School from 1973 to 1976. He was the running backs coach on Don James's staff at

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

from 1977 to 1982. Roberts joined the Los Angeles Express of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in 1983 as running backs coach under head coach Hugh Campbell, and followed Campbell to the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in the same capacity from the 1984 and 1985 seasons. After one-year stints on the college staffs at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(1986) and the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

(1987) as running backs and special teams coach, he joined Buddy Ryan with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in 1988. He served as the Eagles' special teams coach for three seasons. He held the same position with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

from 1991 to 1993 and the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

from 1994 to 1995. Roberts returned to Washington in 1996 as the running backs coach. From 1997 to 2002 he headed the special teams unit for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Family

Roberts and his wife, Arvella, have two sons, Kali and Kyle, and a daughter, Genesis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Al 1944 births Living people Arizona Cardinals coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches Florida Tuskers coaches Houston Oilers coaches New York Jets coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Puget Sound Loggers football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches St. Louis Rams coaches Washington Huskies football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Los Angeles Express coaches High school football coaches in Washington (state) Players of American football from Fresno, California African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportsmen Players of American football from Merced