William Sheridan (born January 27, 1959) 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 who is a senior defensive assistant for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

of 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 previously the

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 ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and was also a coach for a number of college teams, including Notre Dame,

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, and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. From 2005 to 2008 he was the linebackers coach for the NFL's

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

. In 2009, he was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. He had stints with the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions before returning to NCAA football at Boston College in 2018. After two years there, he was hired by

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

to be their new defensive line coach beginning in 2020. He also recently served as the linebackers coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL)

Coaching career

Sheridan's coaching career began in 1981 in Shrine High School in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

, where he was the football coach until 1984. In 1987, he moved to the college level and became the linebacker coach for

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, followed by

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

. In 1996, he shifted to defensive line coach at West Point. He had been on Lloyd Carr's staff at the University of Michigan the previous three years before his stint with the Giants, serving as both the linebackers coach and then as coach of the defensive line. Prior to being the defensive coordinator he was the Giants linebackers coach. Sheridan replaced Steve Spagnuolo after he left to take the head coaching position with the St. Louis Rams. Sheridan had been the linebackers coach for the Giants for the previous four seasons after his hiring in 2005. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin promoted Sheridan over secondary coach Peter Giunta. He was fired on January 4, 2010, after the Giants defense slipped as the team dropped 8 of their last 11 games and allowed 40 points on five different occasions, a franchise record. On January 19, 2010, Sheridan was hired by the

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

to coach their inside linebackers. On February 17, 2012, the

hired Sheridan as their defensive coordinator. He was relieved of his duties on January 2, 2014. On January 1, 2014, Sheridan agreed to become the linebackers coach for 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 ...

. In June, 2016, Sheridan was named to ''

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s Dream Coaching Team for the NFL for Linebackers. In 2018, Sheridan became a coach for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, beginning as a defensive backs coach and ending as their defensive coordinator. In 2020, Sheridan was named defensive line coach for

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. Th ...

. On February 22, 2022, Sheridan was named the inside linebackers coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. He resigned in May 2022 after coming under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations during his tenure at Air Force. On September 13, 2022, Sheridan was officially hired by the Arlington Renegades.

References

External links

Ohio State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Bill 1959 births Living people Arlington Renegades coaches Army Black Knights football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Grand Valley State Lakers football players Maine Black Bears football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches NFL defensive coordinators New York Giants coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Sportspeople from Detroit Boston College Eagles football coaches