Greg Scruggs (born August 17, 1990) is an American

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 line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

for the

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 ...

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 played professionally in the NFL as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. Scruggs played

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 ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the 2012 NFL draft. He also played for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. Scruggs was a defensive line coach for the

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

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

, and the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Early life

Scruggs was born in

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 lived in the city's Winton Terrace housing project before joining the local Boys Hope Girls Hope residential program in 2003. As a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, he lived in the Boys Hope House on campus. After playing the quad drums in the school marching band for three years and varsity basketball for two, he reluctantly joined the football team his senior year, at the behest of head coach Steve Specht. Scruggs graduated in 2008.

College career

Scruggs played defensive tackle for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

Cardinals and graduated in 2011.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Scruggs was selected as the 25th pick in the seventh round, 232nd overall, in the 2012 NFL draft by the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

analyst Bucky Brooks stated that Scruggs is a competitive defensive end with toughness and will have to battle for a backup spot on the Seahawks' roster. On August 27, 2013, the Seahawks placed Scruggs on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. The Seahawks announced on August 31, 2015, they waived Scruggs, making him a free agent.

Chicago Bears

On December 31, 2015, Scruggs signed with the

. On January 3, 2016, Scruggs recorded his third career sack against 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 ...

. During the 2016 offseason, Scruggs switched from the defensive end position to tight end. He was released by the Bears on September 27, 2016.

New England Patriots

On October 1, 2016, Scruggs was signed by the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 15, 2016, with a knee injury after being inactive for the first two games he was on the Patriots roster. Scruggs would not play when the Patriots won Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017. Scruggs won his second Super Bowl championship after the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime.

Coaching career

In 2018, Scruggs joined Luke Fickell's staff at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

as the Director of Player Development. For the 2020 season, Scruggs was promoted to the

for the Bearcats. On March 3, 2022, it was reported that Scruggs accepted an assistant defensive line coach position with the

. In 2023, Scruggs left the NFL to follow former Cincinnati head coach Fickell to coach the defensive line for the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. On March 6, 2024, Scruggs was officially hired by the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

to coach the defensive line. On March 21, Scruggs resigned following an operating surrounding ann intoxicated arrest that occurred on March 16. Scruggs did not coach a practice or game while with the Michigan Wolverines. On February 25, 2025, the

hired Scruggs to serve as the team's defensive line coach.

Personal life

Scruggs submitted the winning nomination of his high school coach, Steve Specht, for the 2013 Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs, Greg 1990 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles American football tight ends Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio Louisville Cardinals football players New England Patriots players New York Jets coaches Players of American football from Cincinnati Seattle Seahawks players St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni Wisconsin Badgers football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches