Ed Donatell (born February 4, 1957 in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

coach who is the defensive coordinator for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

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). Donatell has 42 years of coaching experience, including 31 seasons in the NFL. In addition to coaching defensive backs for Broncos Head Coach

Vic Fangio Victor Mick Fangio (born August 22, 1958) is an American football coach who is the defensive consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Fangio most recently served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos o ...

for eight years with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

(2019–21),

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 ...

(2015–18) and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

(2011–14), he has been a defensive coordinator for eight seasons with

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

(2000–03), Atlanta Falcons (2004–06),

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

(2008) and the

(2019–21).

Career

Donatell served as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

Huskies football team from January to December 2008 under

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005– ...

. He and the entire staff were let go after the winless 2008 season.Holt takes over Washington's defense
Associated Press, January 5, 2009, Accessed January 5, 2009. Previously he served as a special assistant to the New York Jets. Donatell served as the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the

under head coach Jim Mora for three seasons, prior to which he occupied this position for the

. He eventually started working as the

defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator

. When Fangio joined the

in 2015, Donatell followed. On January 15, 2019, the

hired Donatell as their defensive coordinator. He tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

on November 1, 2020, and missed six games before returning in Week 14. On February 4, 2022, it was announced that the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

had hired Donatell in a senior defensive role. However, on February 10, it was announced that Donatell would not be joining the Seahawks and would instead join the

as their defensive coordinator for the 2022 season.

Personal life

He graduated from Stow High School in Stow,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and later earned a master's degree in administration from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in A ...

. He is married and has three children. His son Tom is defensive quality control coach for the

References

1957 births Living people Atlanta Falcons coaches Denver Broncos coaches Green Bay Packers coaches New York Jets coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Chicago Bears coaches Washington Huskies football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Kent State University alumni Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio Minnesota Vikings coaches {{amfoot-coach-stub