Bobby Babich (born July 30, 1983) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is 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

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

North Dakota State Bison The North Dakota State Bison are the athletic teams of North Dakota State University (NDSU), which is located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The teams are often called the "Thundering Herd". The current logo is a bison. Sports sponsored ...

and previously served as a coach with the

Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level with footba ...

Eastern Illinois Panthers The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program competes at the NCAA Division I level and is a member of th ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

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and

FIU Panthers The FIU Panthers are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Miami, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athlet ...

Early life

Babich was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, the son of football coach Bob Babich. He attended

Fargo South High School Fargo South High School, commonly known as Fargo South, South High, and South, is a public high school in Fargo, North Dakota. It serves about 1,000 students in grades 9-12. The school is a part of the Fargo Public Schools system. The school col ...

in North Dakota where he played football and track and field, being a

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 ...

and

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 ...

in the former. He was selected first-team all-conference and first-team all-state as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in football and also received all-conference honors in track. Babich played

as a

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 ...

for the

, whom his father was the coach for. He totaled 10

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

as a true

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in 2002. He then started 10 games with 29 tackles as a

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in 2003, and had 22 tackles in 11 starts as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 2004. He led the team in interceptions as a senior and ended his collegiate career having been named academic all-conference twice.

Coaching career

Early career

A year after the end of his playing career, Babich entered coaching, 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 ...

with the

in 2006. One year later, he was hired by the

as secondary coach. He served in this role through 2010. Babich first entered the

(NFL) in 2011, being hired by the

to the role of administrative assistant to the coaching staff. In this role, he was an assistant to defensive backs and helped the team's day-to-day operations. This year was the first of four consecutive years when he had to face off against his father, who was at the time serving as the

for the

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; Bob beat Bobby in all four "Babich Bowls". He received a promotion to defensive assistant in the 2012 season. In 2013, Babich joined the

and served through 2015 as an assistant defensive backs coach. He initially accepted a position as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the

Edinboro Fighting Scots The Edinboro Fighting Scots are the athletic teams that represent Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro (PennWest Edinboro), located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division II, Division II C ...

in 2016, but then moved to the

as secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator before the season started.

Buffalo Bills

In 2017, Babich was hired by the

as assistant defensive backs coach under

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia E ...

, joining his father who was also on the team's staff. He helped in the development of

Jordan Poyer Jordan Lynn-Baxter Poyer (born April 25, 1991) is an American professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety who is a free agent. He played college football at Oregon State Beavers football, Oregon State, wh ...

and Micah Hyde, two of the best safeties in the league, and in 2017 helped Hyde earn a spot in the

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while

Tre'Davious White Tre'Davious White Sr. (born January 16, 1995) is an American professional American football, football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers, ear ...

was the leader in

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pass deflections In 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, f ...

. He received a promotion to safeties coach in 2018. ''

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'' noted that "all his groups performed admirably"; in 2020, he helped them reach the conference championship while being third in the league in takeaways, and in 2021 they had the top overall defense in the league, led in six major defensive categories, and both Hyde and Poyer were named

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

. Babich was moved from safeties coach to linebackers coach in 2022, replacing his father who had retired. He worked with Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds and helped

Matt Milano Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an American professional American football, football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles football, Boston ...

earn first-team All-Pro honors in his first year in his new position. The following year, after Edmunds left, Babich helped develop

Terrel Bernard Terrel Bernard (born May 7, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears. Early life Bernard grew up in La Porte, Texas and att ...

, who went from having seen little playing time in 2022 to being a top player in 2023. The team reached the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, with Bernard getting injured playing a role in their defeat by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. After having been interviewed by other teams for defensive coordinator positions multiple times following the 2023 season, Babich was promoted by the Bills to serve in that capacity on January 30, 2024.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babich, Bobby 1983 births Living people American people of Serbian descent Buffalo Bills coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Eastern Illinois Panthers football players Fargo South High School alumni FIU Panthers football coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches NFL defensive coordinators North Dakota State Bison football players Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Players of American football from Fargo, North Dakota Coaches of American football from Oklahoma