Robert Prince (born May 8, 1965) 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 who is the

wide receivers 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

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

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).

Early life

Prince was born in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, where he spent the first seven years of his life, before moving to

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. He played football for San Gorgonio High School where he was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played his first 2 years as a wide receiver at San Bernardino Valley College. He enrolled at

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of Cal Poly (disambiguation), three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) sys ...

, where he graduated with a master's degree in 1992.

Coaching career

College

Prince began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Humboldt State in 1989 and 1990, and at Montana State in 1991. He served as wide receivers coach for Sacramento State in 1992 and 1993. He served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Fort Lewis in 1994 and 1995. He served as wide receivers coach at Portland State in 1998, before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1999 and 2000. He served as wide receivers coach for

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

in 2001 and 2002, before being named pass game coordinator in 2003. Prince helped lead the Broncos to back-to-back WAC titles in 2002 and 2003. Prior to returning to the college ranks, Prince spent six seasons as an assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). On February 12, 2010, Prince was named passing game coordinator and receivers coach for

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Prince returned to Boise State in 2011, where he served as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator in 2011. On January 11, 2012, Prince was promoted to offensive coordinator for Boise State. Prince's offense ranked in the Top-10 in multiple national categories, including pass efficiency (4th, 171.57), scoring (5th, 44.23) and total offense (9th, 481.31).

National Football League

Atlanta Falcons

Prince got his NFL start as an offensive assistant with 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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, where he worked exclusively with running backs and tight ends his first two seasons, Prince helped Atlanta to lead the league in rushing in both of those years. He was named assistant quarterbacks coach in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 1, 2007, Prince was named assistant wide receivers coach for 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 ...

. During the 2007 season, Prince guided Jaguars wide receiver Reggie Williams to a single-season franchise record 10 touchdowns.

Seattle Seahawks

On January 13, 2009, Prince was named wide receivers coach for 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 ...

Detroit Lions

On January 25, 2014, Prince was named receivers coach for 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 season, under Prince's tutelage, three wide receivers contributed to the Lions having five players record 50+ receptions. The Lions became the fifth team in NFL history, and first in franchise history, to feature five different players with at least 50 catches in a season. During the 2019 season, Prince helped guide wide receiver Kenny Golladay to his second 1,000-yard receiving season (1,190), becoming the first player in franchise history to record two 1,000-yard receiving seasons in their first three years. Golladay's 11 touchdowns were also a team and NFL-high. Several members of the Lions coaching staff, including interim head coach Darrell Bevell, had to quarantine during the week 16 game 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 ...

due to a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

outbreak. Prince was named acting head coach for the Lions on December 24, 2020. The Lions lost the game in a blowout 47–7, with quarterback

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georg ...

getting injured in the first quarter.

Houston Texans

On March 10, 2021, Prince was named wide receivers coach for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Dallas Cowboys

On February 9, 2022, Prince was named wide receivers coach for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Miami Dolphins

On January 28, 2025, Prince was hired by the

to serve as the team's wide receivers coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Robert 1965 births Living people Atlanta Falcons coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Detroit Lions coaches Fort Lewis Skyhawks football coaches Houston Texans coaches Humboldt State Lumberjacks football coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Montana State Bobcats football coaches Portland State Vikings football coaches Sacramento State Hornets football coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Detroit Lions head coaches Coaches of American football from California