Anthony Blevins (born July 23, 1976) is an American former professional football player and assistant special teams coordinator of 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 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). Blevins played in the original XFL with the

Birmingham Thunderbolts The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in ...

and had been a full-time coach in the NFL from 2013 to 2022.

Education

In addition Blevins has a vast array of college degrees from his bachelor's in Sociology, master's degree in Instructional Technology from UAB where he played

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 ...

, as well as his doctorate in Instructional Systems and Work Force Development from

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

, which he received while serving as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

there.

Playing career

After playing college football at UAB, Blevins played professionally for the

Mobile Admirals The Mobile Admirals were a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League; the Admirals were the league champions. They played their home games at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, A ...

of the

Regional Football League The Regional Football League (RFL) was an american football minor league formed to be the self-styled "major league of spring football." Established in 1997, the league played a single season, 1999, and then ceased operations. History The RFL se ...

, the

Birmingham Steeldogs The Alabama Steeldogs, originally known as the Birmingham Steeldogs, were incorporated in 2000 as one of the charter teams in the AF2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League. Entering their eighth season as of 2007, they were the l ...

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

and the

of the original XFL.

Coaching career

College coaching career

Blevins began his career in coaching at

Meadowcreek High School Meadowcreek High School is a public high school located in Norcross, Georgia, United States, off I-85 and led by principal Kevin Wood. The school is part of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system. Meadowcreek High School is the most diverse sec ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. He spent 2 years there working as the team's secondary coach while also serving as a community liaison. From

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, he served as a graduate assistant at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. In 2008 he coached at the University of Tennessee-Martin working with the team's cornerbacks while also serving as recruiting coordinator. Between 2009 and 2011, Blevins worked at Tennessee State coaching the special teams and cornerbacks. 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 gather ...

Blevins returned to his alma mater as the Blazers' cornerbacks coach.

Arizona Cardinals

From

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Blevins worked under

Bruce Arians Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the he ...

as an assistant special teams coach for the Arizona Cardinals.

New York Giants

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Blevins became a part of Pat Shurmur's staff, where he spent two seasons as the Giants' assistant special teams coach directly under

Thomas McGaughey Thomas McGaughey (born May 8, 1973) is an American football coach and former player who is the special teams coordinator for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has previously served the same role for the Carolina Pa ...

. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

he was retained by Joe Judge who he coached with at Mississippi State and became the team's assistant secondary coach. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

he was named the team's assistant linebackers coach and special teams assistant. He was retained by

Brian Daboll Brian Michael Daboll (; born April 14, 1975) is a Canadian-born American football coach who is the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Brow ...

and moved to the team's assistant special teams coach.

Vegas Vipers

On July 7, 2023, Blevins was announced as the new head coach of the

Vegas Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began oper ...

of the XFL, replacing Hall of Famer

Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...

who finished the previous season 2–8. Blevins never coached for the Vipers, who cancelled their stadium lease on August 31 and were formally contracted when the XFL merged into the United Football League prior to the start of the 2024 season.

Birmingham Stallions

On May 28, 2024, Blevins joined the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played thei ...

of the United Football League (UFL) as a defensive assistant.

Chicago Bears

On February 19, 2025, the

hired Blevins to serve as their assistant special teams coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blevins, Tony Living people 1976 births African-American coaches of American football American football cornerbacks American football defensive backs Arizona Cardinals coaches Birmingham Thunderbolts players Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Mississippi State University alumni New York Giants coaches Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama Regional Football League players Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama UAB Blazers football coaches UAB Blazers football players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Vegas Vipers head coaches