Dexter McCoil Sr. (born September 5, 1991) is an American

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 ...

coach and former

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, who is the current defensive coordinator for the

Texas State Bobcats The Texas State Bobcats are the sports teams that represent Texas State University. Currently, they compete in the Sun Belt Conference in NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for football). The Bobcat has been the mascot of Texas State Uni ...

. He played

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. McCoil played professionally for the

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

, St. Louis BattleHawks and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

Early life

McCoil attended Lutcher High School in

Lutcher, Louisiana Lutcher is a town in St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It is part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area . The population was 3,559 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 3,127 at the 2020 population est ...

, where he helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2008 3A State Championship. He was ranked as the 58th top prospect in the state of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

by Rivals.com. He was named the District MVP following his senior season. He was an honorable mention all-state in his senior season. McCoil also earned the all-district, all-metro and all-River Parish honors following both his junior and senior seasons of high school.

College career

McCoil was named the Defensive MVP following his performance in the 2011 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. He also earned second-team all-Conference USA honors following his junior season. Prior to his senior season, he was selected on the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

Watch List and also selected on the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List. In his four seasons at Tulsa, he finished with a total of 315 tackles, 18 Interceptions, 43 passes defensed, and one forced fumble.

Professional career

McCoil went undrafted following the conclusion of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. McCoil attended the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

rookie minicamp but failed to make the final cut on the preseason 90 man roster.

Los Angeles Kiss

On February 17, 2014, McCoil was assigned to the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). In 5 games for the Kiss, McCoil managed several splash plays, including half a sack, and an interception returned 14 yards for a touchdown.

Edmonton Eskimos

On May 31, 2014, he signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and t ...

in 2014 for recording 67 tackles, four sacks and tying for the league lead with six interceptions. McCoil and the Eskimos had a contract dispute during the

2015 CFL season The 2015 CFL season was the 62nd season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 58th Canadian Football League season. The Edmonton Eskimos won the 103rd Grey Cup on November 29, defeating the Ottawa Redblacks 26–20 in Winni ...

as he claimed that he was not offered the 1-year contract (with a player option to extend to 2 years), rather he claimed the Eskimos only offered him the minimum 2-year contract. On the field McCoil continued to be a key cog in the Eskimos defense recording 76 defensive tackles, two sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. On December 6, 2015, after winning the

103rd Grey Cup The 103rd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Division champion Ottawa Redblacks and the West Division champion Edmonton Eskimos to decide the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship f ...

to close the season, the Eskimos announced they had reached a settlement of all outstanding matters with Dexter McCoil, the CFL and the CFLPA. Starting on May 1, 2016, McCoil was

free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

to attempt to sign with an NFL team. In the event that McCoil was unsuccessful in securing an NFL standard player contract for the

2016 NFL season The 2016 NFL season was the 97th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 51st of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 8, 2016, with the defending Super Bowl 50 champion 2016 Denver Broncos season, Denve ...

, he entered into an agreement to play for the Eskimos for the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

CFL seasons.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

On January 12, 2016, he signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. The Chargers tried him out at

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 line ...

and at safety during their off-season workouts. On September 3, 2016, he was listed on the Chargers' final 53-man roster. McCoil made his first start at safety for the Chargers on September 25, 2016, against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He played in all 16 games with two starts, recording 25 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception. On October 7, 2017, McCoil was waived by the Chargers.

San Francisco 49ers

On October 9, 2017, McCoil was claimed off waivers by the

. He was released on April 30, 2018. He was re-signed by the 49ers on August 17, 2018. He was waived on September 1, 2018. He was re-signed again to the practice squad on September 27, 2018. He was released on October 9, 2018.

Los Angeles Chargers (II)

On January 2, 2019, McCoil was signed to the

practice squad.

Calgary Stampeders

On October 22, 2019 McCoil returned to the CFL, signing with the

near the end of the 2019 regular season. In two games played, McCoil managed 2 tackles on defense, 3 more on special teams, and an interception. Following Calgary's playoff defeat, during which McCoil put up 4 more defensive tackles and two more special teams stops, he was cut on November 25, 2019.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On October 16, 2019, several days prior to signing with the Stampeders, McCoil was drafted by the St. Louis BattleHawks in the fourth round of the defensive backs phase of the 2020 XFL Draft. In 5 games played, McCoil finished tied for 3rd in the league in tackles (alongside several other players including teammate

Terence Garvin Terence Damian Garvin (born January 1, 1991) is an American college football coach and former linebacker. He is the defensive coordinator for Norfolk State, a position he has held since 2025. He played college football for West Virginia. After g ...

) with 36, in addition to a quarterback sack. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Toronto Argonauts

On June 28, 2021, McCoil signed with the

of the

Personal life

His second cousin is

former A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of 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 ...

Corey Webster.

References

External links

Tulsa Golden Hurricane bio

Edmonton Eskimos bio

Los Angeles Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoil, Dexter 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Metairie, Louisiana Players of American football from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Players of Canadian football from Louisiana American football safeties Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Edmonton Elks players Incarnate Word Cardinals football coaches Los Angeles Kiss players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players San Francisco 49ers players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football linebackers St. Louis Battlehawks players Toronto Argonauts players Texas State Bobcats football coaches