Todd Downing (born July 22, 1980) 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 currently the wide receivers coach for the

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 ...

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 has previously served as offensive coordinator for the

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

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

as well as an assistant coach for the

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 ...

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 ...

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

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

Playing career

Downing played quarterback for the Minnesota Maulers, a semi-pro football team from 2000 to 2002, and helped the Maulers reach three consecutive championship games.

Coaching career

Early career

Downing received his first coaching job when he was hired as a 9th grade B team offensive coach at

Eden Prairie High School Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) is a four-year public high school in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States established in 1923. The present high school opened in 1981 and was significantly added to in 1990, 1994 and 1997. It was named a Blue R ...

. While coaching at his high school, the Eagles won the Class 5A state title in 2000 over

Matt Birk Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Minnesota Vikings. Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota ...

's Cretin Derham Hall Raiders.

Minnesota Vikings

After being offered an internship in 2001 by Chad Ostlund in Research and Development for the

, Downing was a Public Relations intern for 2002, a football systems analyst from 2003 to 2004, and offensive quality control coach in 2005.

St. Louis Rams

In 2006, Downing was hired by the

to be a defensive assistant and special teams assistant coach. He would keep this job for two seasons before becoming the Rams' defensive quality control coach.

Detroit Lions

In 2009, Downing was hired by the

with

Scott Linehan Scott Thomas Linehan (born September 17, 1963) is an American football coach who serves as a senior offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He recently was an offensive analyst at Montana. He was the ...

as an offensive quality control coach. Downing was the assistant quarterback coach in 2010 and was promoted to the quarterbacks coach role in 2011. While he was coaching quarterbacks in Detroit,

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 ...

averaged 4,885 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions from 2011 to 2013.

Buffalo Bills

In 2014, Downing was the

' quarterback coach.

Oakland Raiders

In 2015, Downing was hired by the

as their quarterbacks coach under head coach

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

. Downing is credited for helping

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, receiving first-team All-Mou ...

become the first Raiders quarterback to be selected to a Pro Bowl since 2002. On January 20, 2015, Downing was named by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

as Quarterbacks Coach of the Year. After coaching Raiders quarterbacks for two years, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2017, after the Raiders decided not to renew

Bill Musgrave William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an offensive coordinator and quar ...

's contract. When Downing coached Carr from 2015 to 2016, he threw for 7,924 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions with two Pro Bowl appearances. Downing was fired on January 1, 2018, along with head coach

and the rest of Del Rio's staff after dropping from 12–4 to 6–10 due to a major regression of the offense.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

On February 19, 2018, Downing was hired by the

as a senior offensive assistant. Following the sudden and unexpected passing of Vikings offensive line coach

Tony Sparano Anthony Joseph Sparano III (October 7, 1961 – July 22, 2018) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and is the only NFL head coach to have l ...

prior to training camp in 2018, tight ends coach

Clancy Barone Clarence Barone (born July 26, 1963) is an American football coach who most recently served as the tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vi ...

was shifted to coach the offensive line, alongside Sparano's assistant offensive line coach,

Andrew Janocko Andrew James Janocko (born April 6, 1988) is an American football coach who serves as the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Saints, ...

, while Downing was moved from senior offensive assistant to tight ends coach to fill the vacant position.

Tennessee Titans

On January 26, 2019, Downing was hired by the

as their tight ends coach under head coach

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel ( ; born August 14, 1975) is an American professional American football, football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footba ...

. On January 29, 2021, Downing was promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Arthur Smith, who departed to become the head coach 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 ...

two weeks prior. In Downing's first season as offensive coordinator, the Titans finished 17th in overall offense and 15th in points scored. On January 9, 2023, Downing was fired after the Titans finished 30th in overall offense and 28th in points scored (17.5 per game).

New York Jets

On February 13, 2023, Downing was hired by the

as their passing game coordinator under head coach

Robert Saleh Robert Jalal Saleh (born January 31, 1979) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach of the New York Jets from 2021 to 2024. ...

. On February 20, 2024, Downing was also named as the quarterbacks coach after quarterbacks coach

Rob Calabrese Rob Calabrese (born March 5, 1990) is an American football coach who is an offensive assistant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets. Early life and ...

left to become an offensive assistant for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

. On October 10, 2024, Downing was handed over offensive playcalling duties from

Nathaniel Hackett Nathaniel Hackett (born December 19, 1979) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time assistant to Doug Marrone, Hackett previously served as the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, Green Ba ...

. This decision was made by interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, following the firing of

. The decision was allegedly going to be made by Saleh, but was fired minutes before withdrawing Hackett's playcalling abilities.

New England Patriots

On February 3, 2025, Downing was hired by the

as their wide receivers coach, reuniting him with new head coach Mike Vrabel.

Personal life

Downing grew up in

Eden Prairie, Minnesota Eden Prairie is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It had a population of 64,198 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-largest city in Minnesota. The city is adjacent to the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream fro ...

. He and his wife, Julie, have a son named Jackson. Downing was arrested for a DUI when driving back from a game in November 2022.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Todd 1980 births Living people Buffalo Bills coaches Detroit Lions coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches NFL offensive coordinators Oakland Raiders coaches St. Louis Rams coaches New York Jets coaches Tennessee Titans coaches High school football coaches in Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni People from Eden Prairie, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota New England Patriots coaches