Zach Line (born April 26, 1990) is an American 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 former fullback who is the special teams quality control coach for the

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 ...

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). During his seven-year professional career, Line played for the

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

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. He was signed by the Vikings as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2013. He 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

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

Early life

Line attended Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan. As a senior, he had a team-high 154

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

with eight forced fumbles and four recoveries from the

inside 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 lin ...

spot; on offense, he rushed for 1,723 yards with 17

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

while also throwing for three more scores. For his season efforts, he was named a first Team All-State pick. Regarded as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, Line committed to SMU on January 29, 2008. He also received a scholarship offer from

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris (financier), Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the American Revolution". It enr ...

. Line has two brothers, Prescott and Ben, that played at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and Robert Morris University, respectively.

College career

Line attended and played college football at SMU from 2009 to 2012. In the 2009 season, he finished with 49 carries for 189 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. In the 2010 season, he finished with 244 carries for 1,494 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns. In the 2011 season, he finished with 208 carries for 1,224 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. In the 2012 season, his final collegiate season, he finished with 277 carries for 1,278 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

On April 27, 2013, Line signed with the

as an

following the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. In the Vikings' first preseason game against 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 ...

, he scored on a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Cassel. In the season opener against 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 ...

, he had one reception for eight yards in his NFL debut. He appeared in two other games in the 2013 season. Line was released by the team on September 14, 2014, re-signed to the practice squad shortly after, then was promoted to the active roster on October 3. On September 20, 2015, Line scored the first touchdown of his career against the

. The next week, against 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 ...

, Line scored another touchdown, the second of his career. Line also caught a pass from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and took it 49 yards to set up a score in Minnesota's 28–19 victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 7. Overall, in the 2015 season, he finished with six carries for ten rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with six receptions for 95 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In the 2016 season, he finished with seven carries for 15 rushing yards in 15 games.

New Orleans Saints

On August 24, 2017, Line signed with the

. He was released on September 2, 2017. He was re-signed on October 3, 2017. In 12 games, he finished with seven carries for 28 rushing yards to go along with two receptions for eight yards and a receiving touchdown. The Saints made the playoffs and faced off against 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 ...

in the Wild Card Round. In the 31–26 victory, he had a one-yard rushing touchdown. Line and the Saints' season ended in the Divisional Round in a 29–24 loss to the

. On April 5, 2018, Line re-signed with the Saints on a two-year contract. In Week 3 against 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 ...

, Line scored his first touchdown on the season. He finished the 2018 season with nine carries for 41 rushing yards to go along with five receptions for 14 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. In the 2019 season, Line appeared in 12 games and recorded seven carries for 20 rushing yards to go along with six receptions for 36 receiving yards. On January 15, 2020, Line announced his retirement from the NFL via Instagram after seven seasons at the age of 29. Line finished his career with 36 rushing attempts for 114 yards and two touchdowns and caught 20 receptions for 161 yards and four touchdowns. Line returned five kickoffs for 59 yards and recorded seven special teams tackles over the span of his career playing on

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 ...

Coaching career

Oxford

In 2021, Line began working at his alma mater, Oxford High School, as head coach.

Denver Broncos

On March 6, 2025, Line was hired as the special teams quality control coach for the

, reuniting with former Saints head coach

Sean Payton Patrick Sean Payton (born December 29, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he served as the head coach of the Ne ...

Head coaching record

* * * *

References

External links

SMU Mustangs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Line, Zach 1990 births Living people American football fullbacks Denver Broncos coaches Minnesota Vikings players New Orleans Saints players SMU Mustangs football players High school football coaches in Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan People from Oxford, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan