Jonathan Richard Norris (born November 1, 1962) 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 professional player. He served as the head football coach at

Oklahoma Panhandle State University Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU, informally Panhandle State or simply Panhandle) is a public college in Goodwell, Oklahoma. OPSU is a baccalaureate degree-granting institution. General governance of the institution is provided by the ...

Goodwell, Oklahoma Goodwell is a town in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 951. Goodwell is home to Oklahoma Panhandle State University. History In 1901, Goodwell was established as a switch along the Chi ...

from 1997 to 1999. A 1985 graduate of

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885 by Calvin E. Amaron who sought to create an institution of higher ...

, Norris was signed out of college by 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 ...

where he spent the

1985 NFL season The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46–10 at the Louisiana Superdome, in New Orleans (New Orleans Saint ...

on injured reserve during New England's run through the 1985–86 NFL playoffs and appearance in

Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. Norris played as a defensive lineman for 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 ...

in 1987.

Coaching career

Norris was the defensive coordinator at

Adams State Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado, United States. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Adams State was founded in 1921 as a teacher's c ...

from 1993 to 1996. He was then the head coach at

Oklahoma Panhandle State Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU, informally Panhandle State or simply Panhandle) is a public college in Goodwell, Oklahoma. OPSU is a baccalaureate degree-granting institution. General governance of the institution is provided by the B ...

from 1997 to 1999. Norris was the head coach of the

Tulsa Talons 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 Tulsa ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

during their inaugural season in 2000. He was then the assistant head coach and line coach for the

Oklahoma Wranglers The Oklahoma Wranglers were a professional arena football team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were members of the Central (1996–1997) and Western (1998–2001) Division of the American Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). Th ...

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 2001. He was the line coach and special teams coach for the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. They played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from to . The franchise began as an expansion team and posted a winning record in all but o ...

of the AFL from 2002 to 2004. Norris was the defensive coordinator and line coach for the AFL's

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances ...

from 2005 to 2006. He was then the head coach of the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings of the af2 and AFL from 2007 to 2010. He was hired as the vice president and general manager of the

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

of the AFL in 2010. In June 2011, he resigned to become the team's interim head coach during the final four games of the 2011 season. Afterwards, he returned to his front office role with the team. Norris was released by the VooDoo in August 2012.

Head coaching record

References

1962 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Adams State Grizzlies football coaches American International Yellow Jackets football players Chicago Bears players Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies football coaches People from Stratford, Connecticut NFL replacement players Players of American football from Fairfield County, Connecticut Coaches of American football from Connecticut New England Patriots players Denver Dynamite (arena football) players Sacramento Attack players San Antonio Talons coaches Oklahoma Wranglers coaches Dallas Desperados coaches Austin Wranglers coaches Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings coaches New Orleans VooDoo coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensive-lineman-1960s-stub