Theodore John Cottrell (born June 13, 1947) 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 player. He was formerly the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

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

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, and 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 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). In 2009, he served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for the

New York Sentinels New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the United Football League (UFL). Ten years later, he was the linebackers coach for the Birmingham Iron of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

(AAF), and worked as the defensive coordinator for the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in 2020.

Playing career

Cottrell started at Delaware Valley College from 1965 to 1968. He was a seventh-round draft pick of 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 ...

in the

1969 NFL/AFL draft The 1969 NFL/AFL draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft began with first overall pick of O. J. Simpso ...

and played

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 ...

for two seasons. He was the first black linebacker for the

. He ended his career with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

, where he played for one more year.

Coaching career

Cottrell began his coaching career at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, where he worked as an assistant for eight years. In 1981, he got his first NFL coach job when

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

hired him as linebackers coach for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. Considered an innovator in the

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down Defensive lineman, linemen and four linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it will readily switch to other defensive alignments (such as ...

, Cottrell was an assistant coach for the

from 1995 to 2000, the last three seasons as defensive coordinator. From 1998 through 2000, the Bills finished no worse than sixth in the league in total defense. In 1999, the Bills led the league in total defense. In 2001, he joined the

as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, and operated the 4–3 scheme favored by head coach

Herman Edwards Herman Lee Edwards (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former player. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Edwards was also a head coach in the NFL ...

. He stayed for three seasons. In 2003, Cottrell was a finalist to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He ultimately lost the job to

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. He was also the head coach at the University of ...

. Cottrell then spent two seasons (2004–2005) as defensive coordinator for the

. In 2005, the Vikings finished fifth in the NFL in takeaways and earned a postseason berth, and defeated the Green Bay Packers in a Wild Card contest. Cotrell was let go, along with Head Coach Mike Tice and the rest of his staff. Cottrell then announced his retirement. In February 2007, he became the defensive coordinator under new Chargers head coach,

Norv Turner Norval Eugene Turner (born May 17, 1952) is an American football coach who is a senior advisor for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, Turner was the Dallas ...

. During the regular season, the Chargers led the NFL in takeaways (48), interceptions (30), and passing rating defense (70.0), the first time a Chargers team ever led in any of these categories. In 2008, multiple fans wanted Cottrell to be terminated. At the midpoint of the season, the team had a record of 3–5 despite having a highly effective offense. Some attributed this poor record to the fact that the Chargers ranked last among NFL teams in defending against the pass. Defenses led by Cottrell had similar problems in New York and Minnesota. At the midpoint of the 2008 season, the San Diego defense, generally considered to have fantastic talent, had gone two entire games without a quarterback sack nor a takeaway. On October 28, 2008, Cottrell was fired from his position as San Diego's defensive coordinator. Cottrell was the head coach for the UFL's

in 2009. After one winless season, Cottrell left the organization. In 2018, Cottrell became the linebackers coach for the Birmingham Iron of the

. The following year, he was hired by the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL as defensive coordinator. He was named head coach of the Blues of

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

on October 15, 2020.

Personal life

Cottrell is the younger brother of Bill Cottrell, who played 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 ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. Cottrell's son, T. J. Cottrell, played professionally for the Vikings, Chargers and Sentinels, in each case under his father as coach.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Ted 1947 births Living people American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Atlanta Falcons players Birmingham Iron coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Delaware Valley Aggies football players Houston Roughnecks coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches New Jersey Generals (2022) coaches New York Jets coaches New York Sentinels coaches NFL defensive coordinators Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches The Spring League coaches United Football League (2009–2012) head coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Sportspeople from Chester, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen