Anthony Michael Sparano Jr. (born October 22, 1986) 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 offensive line coach for 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 ...

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 the assistant DL coach of the

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominall ...

, the quality control and offense coach 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 ...

, an offensive assistant 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 ...

, and an assistant offensive line coach for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He most recently had been the assistant offensive line coach of 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 ...

College

Sparano attended the

University of Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

, playing defensive end, and made 24 career appearances; he earned three varsity letters and "2008 ESPN The Magazine All-District 1 Academic Team".

Coaching career

Hartford Colonials

Sparano started out his coaching career with the

. They hired him as a defensive line assistant based on his experience as a defensive player for the

for three years and his background with his father

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 ...

being the assistant coach for the Browns.

Miami Dolphins

After coaching a year there Sparano then moved to coach the

as a quality control coach, where he was working under his father

New York Jets

After his father was fired from the Dolphins both Sparano men started coaching with the

in 2012. Tony started out coaching with the Jets as a seasonal intern and then an offensive intern. After his father was fired from the Jets as the assistant head coach, head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions w ...

decided that he wanted to keep Tony and give him a promotion. Sparano accepted the promotion to offensive assistant and was said to be an asset to the team by doing "the job of a ton of guys" (Ryan).

Buffalo Bills

Sparano was with the Jets for three years and after Ryan was fired, he followed him when he became the new head coach 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 ...

. On January 17, 2017, Sparano was replaced by Rob Boras as the Buffalo Bills tight ends' coach under

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia E ...

's new coaching staff.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On January 19, 2017, it was announced that Sparano would be joining 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 ...

as an assistant tight ends coach.

Carolina Panthers

On January 19, 2021, it was announced that Sparano would be joining the

as an assistant offensive line coach.

New York Giants

On February 10, 2022, the

hired Sparano as an assistant offensive line coach.

Indianapolis Colts

On February 27, 2023, the

hired Sparano as the offensive line coach.

Personal life

Sparano was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the son of former NFL head coach

. Sparano is married and has four children: Anthony Jr., Gabriella, Mia and Gianna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparano, Tony Jr. 1986 births Living people Sports coaches from Boston Miami Dolphins coaches New York Jets coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches New York Giants coaches Coaches of American football from Massachusetts