James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) 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 and former

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 ...

who was most recently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He 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 IUP Crimson Hawks before being drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the second round of the

1979 NFL draft The 1979 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

; he went on to be named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Haslett's coaching career began in the late 1980s, with him rejoining the NFL by the mid-1990s. In 2000, he was hired as

of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and was named the

NFL Coach of the Year The NFL Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disposal. Currently, the ...

. He has also served as head coach for the

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

of the United Football League (UFL).

Playing career

Haslett attended

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a Public university, public research university in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Carnegie Classification o ...

, and was selected in the second round of the

by the

. He was a

for the

through 1985; he broke his leg during a 1986 preseason contest, ending his time with the Bills. He made a brief comeback with 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 ...

in 1987. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year for 1979. In a 2005 article in the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'', Haslett admitted to using

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

while playing for the Buffalo Bills. Haslett went on record saying that "everybody tried it" to gain a competitive advantage against opposing teams.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Haslett began his coaching career at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

in 1988 as a linebackers coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1989. After three seasons with Buffalo, Haslett became the defensive coordinator for the Sacramento Surge of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

for the team's inaugural season in 1991. The league suspended operations after the 1992 season.

NFL coaching career

Haslett began his NFL coaching career as a linebackers coach for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993. After two seasons with the Raiders, Haslett was hired as linebackers coach for the

. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 1996 season. After head coach Jim Mora quit during the season, Haslett was offered the interim head coach position, but he declined, and was not retained by new head coach

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka ( ; born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former professional American football, football player, coach, and television commentator. During his playing career, he was UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year, UPI NFL R ...

for the 1997 season. Haslett was then hired as the defensive coordinator for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, where he coached for three seasons from 1997 to 1999.

New Orleans Saints

In January 2000, Haslett was named head coach of the

. He was reportedly hired to a three-year contract. That season, he guided the

Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

to a 10–6 regular-season record, their second

NFC West The National Football Conference – Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Card ...

division championship, and the first playoff victory in franchise history (defeating the St. Louis Rams; they lost to the

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

the next week). As a result of the Saints' turnaround from their previous 3–13 season (under his predecessor,

), Haslett was named

. This was the only playoff appearance in Haslett's six years in New Orleans. They would only notch one other winning record in 2002. That year, the Saints started 9–4, but three consecutive losses, including to the 1-14 Cincinnati Bengals, resulted in them missing the playoffs by a single game. In 2005, the Saints crashed to a 3–13 record. The season was marred by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

's devastation of New Orleans. This forced the franchise to temporarily relocate to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, playing three of their 'home' games in the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

. Another four home games were played in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

's Tiger Stadium, and one took place at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

in New Jersey (against the

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 ...

). Haslett was fired after the 2005 season. He finished his six-year tenure as the head coach of the Saints with the second most head coaching wins in franchise history, with a regular season record of 45–51.

St. Louis Rams

Haslett became the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator to start the 2006 season. On September 29, 2008, Haslett was named the interim head coach of the Rams after Scott Linehan was fired. The Rams gave Haslett an interim coach's contract, containing a clause that promised him the permanent head coach's job if the team won at least six games that season. Within a few weeks, this clause was nullified by the NFL, because it violated the league's " Rooney Rule". He won his first game as interim head coach of the Rams with a 19–17 victory over the 4-1

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. That win was followed by a 34-14 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys on October 19, 2008. This brought the Rams to a 2–4 record. The team would lose their final 10 games, leaving Haslett with an interim record of 2–10 on the year. On January 15, 2009, the Rams announced that Haslett was no longer in consideration for the permanent head coaching position and that the team would be going in a "new direction".

Florida Tuskers

Haslett coached the

of the United Football League during its inaugural season in 2009. The team went 6-0 but were upset in the first-ever UFL Championship Game by the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The team played their ...

. He won UFL Coach of Year in their inaugural season.

Washington Redskins

Haslett was hired as the

defensive coordinator on January 12, 2010, under head coach

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan ( ; born August 24, 1952) is an American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led th ...

. Haslett replaced the retiring Greg Blache. After many speculated he would be fired after the disastrous 2013 season, new head coach Jay Gruden announced Haslett would remain on the team for the upcoming 2014 season. The move reunited the pair, as Gruden had worked as the offensive coordinator under Haslett for the Tuskers in the 2009 season. On December 31, 2014, the Redskins announced that Haslett would leave the Redskins by mutual agreement.

Cincinnati Bengals

After spending the 2015 season as a consultant for

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, Haslett was hired as the linebackers coach for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

on January 15, 2016. Following the 2018 season, the Bengals chose not to retain Haslett along with several other assistant coaches after the firing of longtime head coach Marvin Lewis.

Tennessee Titans

On February 6, 2020,

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

head coach

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel ( ; born August 14, 1975) is an American professional American football, football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footba ...

hired Haslett as the team's inside linebackers coach. Haslett spent two years in the role. He was not retained after the 2021 season.

XFL

Haslett was announced as an XFL head coach in 2021, later revealed to be for the Seattle Sea Dragons. Due to the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the XFL ceased operations in 2021 and 2022. Haslett was the head coach of the Sea Dragons for their final season in 2023, guiding them to a 7–3 record before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs 37–21 to the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

. On January 1, 2024, it was announced that the Sea Dragons would be disbanding. Eight teams from competing spring football leagues, the XFL and

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, merged into the United Football League going into the 2024 season; the Sea Dragons were not one of the teams selected for the merger.

Head coaching record

NFL

*''Interim head coach''

UFL

XFL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haslett, Jim 1955 births Living people American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Buffalo Bulls football coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Florida Tuskers coaches IUP Crimson Hawks football players Los Angeles Raiders coaches NFL defensive coordinators NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winners NFL replacement players New Orleans Saints coaches New Orleans Saints head coaches New York Jets players Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Players of American football from Pittsburgh Sacramento Surge coaches Seattle Sea Dragons head coaches St. Louis Rams coaches St. Louis Rams head coaches Tennessee Titans coaches United Football League (2009–2012) head coaches Washington Redskins coaches NFL Coach of the Year winners