Matthew Victor Giordano (born October 16, 1982) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

who currently serves as the assistant defensive backs coach and safeties coach 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 ...

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 was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the fourth round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. Giordano grew up in

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. It was established in 1890 as a freight stop for the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a group of Fresno businessmen and Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky. The railroad bou ...

, and attended Fresno City College before playing

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 California Golden Bears. Giordano was part of the Colts'

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...

championship team that defeated the

. He was also a member of the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

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 ...

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 ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, and St. Louis Rams.

Early life

Attending Buchanan High School in

, Giordano played a key role as team co-captain in Buchanan's inaugural Valley championship in 2000. His football jersey number was 2 while playing for Buchanan. As a senior, he had five interceptions and 64 tackles while causing three fumbles, and averaged nine yards per carry and 12.6 yards per reception on offense. He broke Buchanan records for longest punt return for a touchdown, most blocked kicks and most interceptions in a game. He was a two-time all (TRAC) Tri-River-Athletic-Conference first-team choice and was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Clovis Exchange Club and Buchanan High's Most Outstanding Player in football and track in 2001. Giordano was also crowned individual league champion in the 400 meters in 1999.

College career

Giordano attended Fresno City College for two years. He won All-State honors as a freshman, was a two-time All-Conference pick, and was the Defensive MVP in the Northern California Championship game. He then played

with the California Golden Bears, at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. As a senior, Giordano won All- Pacific-10 Conference first-team honors, and was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honorable mention. During his career, he had two interceptions, six pass deflections, one sack, 111 tackles (four for losses), two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He graduated from Berkeley.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

The

selected Giordano in the fourth round (134th overall) of the

. Giordano played in 15 games as a rookie, starting in the September 11 game. He made 12 tackles and 1

pass deflected In American football, a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball wit ...

. In 2006, his second season, Giordano played 12 games and made 25 tackles. On December 10 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, Giordano made his first career interception, of David Garrard. Giordano also deflected a pass and made a season-high 9 tackles in the game. On December 18, a Monday night game against 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 ...

, Giordano made his first professional start. The Colts won

29–17 over the

on February 4, 2007. On fourth down late in the fourth quarter, Giordano deflected a pass by Rex Grossman to Desmond Clark in a play described as icing the game for Indianapolis. Giordano started 4 games out of 12 played in 2007 and made 20 tackles, 4 passes deflected, and 2 interceptions. In the season-opening 41–10 victory over the

, Giordano intercepted

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

and returned the pick 83 yards in the Colts' final touchdown play of the game. In 2008, Giordano played all 16 regular season games and played on special teams in the Wild Card playoff game against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. Giordano made 23 tackles and 1 pass deflected. Giordano signed a one-year contract with the Colts on April 20, 2009. On September 6, the Colts released Giordano to make room for linebacker Cody Glenn.

Green Bay Packers

On September 23, 2009, the

signed Giordano after releasing Aaron Rouse. With the Packers in 2009, Giordano played 5 games and made 2 tackles. He was released on March 5, 2010.

New Orleans Saints

Giordano signed with the

on March 16, 2010, and participated in training camp with the team before being cut on August 31. Giordano signed with the

on October 12, 2010, and played 9 games with 3 tackles. In his debut with the Saints on October 17 against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, Giordano recovered an on-side kick attempt by Tampa kicker Connor Barth in the fourth quarter in New Orleans's 31–6 victory.

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders signed Giordano on August 15, 2011, after Hiram Eugene suffered a serious hip injury in the pre-season opener. He was released on September 3, but was re-signed on September 5. In the 2011–2012 season, Giordano led the team in interceptions along with his 70 tackles.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams signed Giordano on June 15, 2013, after the Rams released rookie free agent safety Don Unamba.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

In 2015, Giordano joined his high school alma mater's coaching staff as defensive coordinator. He was named to replace head coach Mike Jacot the following year. He served from 2016 to 2021 amassing a 51–16 record as head coach of Buchanan High School. He stepped down from his role as head coach following the 2021 season. He would join his former coach Jeff Tedford's staff at Fresno State as a volunteer assistant during the 2022 season. In 2023, Giordano joined the staff of the

as an assistant secondary coach. On February 20, 2025, the

hired Giordano to serve as their assistant defensive backs coach and safeties coach.

Personal life

Giordano married his wife, Laura in 2005. His great-grandfather is Italian born Ralph Giordano, better known as Young Corbett III, a world

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

and

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

champion. Matt is the son of Victor and Janet Giordano. After retiring from the NFL, Giordano accepted a position as a physical education teacher at Buchanan High School.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Matt 1982 births Living people American people of Italian descent Players of American football from Clovis, California Players of American football from Fresno, California American football safeties Fresno City Rams football players California Golden Bears football players Indianapolis Colts players Green Bay Packers players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players Oakland Raiders players St. Louis Rams players Coaches of American football from California High school football coaches in California New Orleans Saints coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches