Kanavis McGhee (born October 4, 1968) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was a

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

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 ...

in 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 is a former defensive linemen coach with the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

NFL Europa 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 developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

. He coached as the defensive line coach at the

University of Colorado-Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. He is currently the head coach and athletic coordinator at Sterling High School in Houston, Texas. McGhee was a business student while attending the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. He studied business with an emphasis in marketing. McGhee attended Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston and 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 Colorado Buffaloes. During his career at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

, McGhee was one of the top defenders in college football, earning him first-team All-Big Eight honors, a finalist nomination for the prestigious Dick Butkus Award and runner-up for the Rotary Lombardi Award. Both awards are given annually to top linebackers in college football. McGhee was selected in the second round (55th overall) of the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 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 April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

, as

by 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 ...

, where he played for three seasons until he suffered a left knee injury in August 1993 and the Giants released him in May 1994. After this he joined 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 ...

as free agent before returning to his hometown to play with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

for the season of 1995. McGhee gained coaching experience while serving as head coach of Ross Shaw Sterling High School in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 2006, he spent the season with the

as defensive assistant, participating in the

coaching program. In 2007 McGhee returned for a second season and tutored the Admirals' defensive linemen. McGhee worked as a teacher at Challenge Early College High School in

. In 2010 he returned to Colorado as defensive line assistant under Jon Embree. McGhee has two sons, Davyon McGhee, who played for

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

, also as linebacker, and Kendall Gregory-McGhee, who played for the University of Minnesota as a defensive end.

Agent allegations

In the October 18, 2010 issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', former NFL agent Josh Luchs alleges that he gave McGhee $2,500 while trying to persuade him to hire Luchs as his agent, while he still played for the University of Colorado. Luchs said McGhee told him his mother was about to be evicted from her rental home and needed the money. According to Luchs, McGhee never paid back the money and did not return his phone calls. If true, the payment would have been considered a major violation of NCAA rules regarding player eligibility., ''Sports Illustrated'', October 18, 2010. McGhee has denied that he ever violated NCAA rules and Alfred Williams, who was present at first meeting between McGhee and Luchs, has stated that the information in the article is not true.

References

External links

* NFL.com
McGhee to Have Knee Surgery
''New York Times'' August 4, 1993

''New York Times'' May 11, 1994

''New York Times'' July 8, 1994 * The Rotary Lombardi Award * databaseFootball.com * Kansas State, July 6, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, Kanavis 1968 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football linebackers Colorado Buffaloes football players American football defensive ends New York Giants players Cincinnati Bengals players Houston Oilers players Amsterdam Admirals coaches