Steven Kent Crosby (born July 3, 1950) 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 ...

coach and player. He spent 33 years 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)—3 as a player, 4 as a scout and 26 as a coach. Crosby was named the NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year with 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 ...

in 2007. A

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, Crosby 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

Fort Hays Tigers The Fort Hays State Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Fort Hays State University, located in Hays, Kansas, Hays, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Interco ...

He played professionally for 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 ...

(1974–1976). Afterwards he scouted or coached in the NFL 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 ...

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 ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

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 ...

and the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He then coached

for three years at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

before joining the Chargers in 2002.

College career

Crosby played

at Fort Hays State, where he received honorable mention on the

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's Little All-American team (1973). He was a two-time

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) All-District 10 (1972–1973) and two-time All-

Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The conference was f ...

selection (1972–1973). The tailback finished his career with 2,780 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns while also filling in for injured teammates at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

middle 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 li ...

Professional playing career

Crosby was selected by the

in the 17th round of the

1974 NFL draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the Pittsburgh Steelers to have had t ...

. He was one of the few 17th round picks to ever make an NFL team after reporting to training camp in his best ever physical condition. The 1974 NFL strike also may have helped as veterans missed training camp. Stomach and knee injuries impacted Crosby's first year. He played three seasons with the Giants and retired following the 1976 season after a serious knee injury.

Coaching career

Crosby recovered from his injury and earned his master's degree. Three weeks after accepting a position to teach high school, he was offered to be a scout for the

. He accepted, and later became a coach under

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

. The Dolphins went to

Super Bowl XVII Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

in 1982. Crosby then coached for the

and the

. In 1985 with the Browns, Crosby was the running backs coach that oversaw both

Earnest Byner Earnest Alexander Byner (born September 15, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the East Carolina Pirates. He is now the running ba ...

and Kevin Mack both running for 1,000 yards. Crosby joined the Chargers in 2002 as

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach under their new incoming head coach,

Marty Schottenheimer Martin Edward Schottenheimer (; September 23, 1943 – February 8, 2021) was an American professional football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons. He was the head coach of the Cl ...

. Crosby was honored as the 2007 NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year by Professional Kicking Services. His kickoff strategy with the Chargers emphasized placement of the ball—forcing the return team to one side of the field—as a tradeoff for the distance of the kick. During his Chargers tenure, four special team players were selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

including covermen

Kassim Osgood Kassim Alexandre Osgood (; born May 20, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and special teamer in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for San Diego State University and C ...

(3-time selection) and Hanik Milligan,

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

Nate Kaeding Nathaniel James Kaeding (born March 26, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, earning consensus All-American hono ...

(2-times) and

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

David Binn David Aaron Binn (born February 6, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a long snapper for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was signed b ...

. Additionally, punter

Mike Scifres Michael T. Scifres (born October 8, 1980) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a punter (football position), punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played the majority of his career with the Sa ...

was a Pro Bowl first-alternate four times, and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

Darren Sproles Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983) is an American professional football executive and former running back. He is now a personnel consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for th ...

was a first-alternate once and a second alternate twice. Kaeding, who started his NFL career under Crosby, was the NFL's most accurate kicker of all-time as of the end of the 2010 season, converting 86.5% of his field goals attempts. The ''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' wrote that Crosby's special teams unit in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

was "by some measures the worst special teams season in NFL history." The Chargers allowed touchdowns on three kickoffs and one punt, and had four punts blocked and another deflected. As of 2010, two teams since 1994 had allowed more kickoff returns for touchdowns and five allowed as many as the Chargers. Two teams had allowed more blocked punts, and none since 1976 surrendered a punt return average higher than the Chargers' 18.9 yards. Crosby was unable to get a group of inexperienced players to play at an acceptable level. Some team members said it was time for a change after listening to Crosby for nine years, and his contract was not renewed after the season.

References

External links

Steve Crosby
at NFL.com

at Pro-Football-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Steve 1950 births Living people People from Great Bend, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas American football running backs Fort Hays State Tigers football players New York Giants players Coaches of American football from Kansas Miami Dolphins scouts Miami Dolphins coaches Atlanta Falcons coaches Cleveland Browns coaches New England Patriots coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches