William Sheridan (born January 27, 1959) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is currently the linebackers coach for the

Arlington Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The team was founded as the Dallas Renegades by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL (2020), XFL owne ...

. Sheridan was previously the

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

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was also a coach for a number of college teams, including Notre Dame, Army, and

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

. From 2005 to 2008 he was the linebackers coach for the NFL's

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. In 2009, he was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. He had stints with the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions before returning to NCAA football at Boston College in 2018. After two years there, he was hired by the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

to be their new defensive line coach beginning in 2020.

Personal life

A native of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Sheridan earned four letters as a linebacker at

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

. He graduated from

De La Salle Collegiate High School De La Salle Collegiate High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Founded in 1926, the school was located on the east side of Detroit before moving to its current location in Warren, Michigan, in ...

in Detroit. Sheridan and his wife, Jaycine, have four children: Joe,

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

, Mark and Natalie. Nick was a quarterback at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 2008 to 2009, and from 2020 until his termination on November 28, 2021 was the offensive coordinator for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. His son, Mark, is the defensive coordinator for his alma mater,

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Intercolle ...

Coaching career

Sheridan's coaching career began in 1981 in Shrine High School in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along th ...

, where he was the football coach until 1984. In 1987, he moved to the college level and became the linebacker coach for

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, followed by

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. In 1996, he shifted to defensive line coach at West Point. He had been on

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolverines compiled a record ...

's staff at the University of Michigan the previous three years before his stint with the Giants, serving as both the linebackers coach and then as coach of the defensive line. Prior to being the defensive coordinator he was the Giants

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

. Sheridan replaced

Steve Spagnuolo Stephen Christopher Spagnuolo (; born December 21, 1959) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He rejoined Andy Reid after being a defensive assistant wit ...

after he left to take the head coaching position with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

. Sheridan had been the linebackers coach for the Giants for the previous four seasons after his hiring in 2005. Giants head coach

Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( ; born August 31, 1946) is a former American football coach and executive. He was the head coach for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both time ...

promoted Sheridan over secondary coach

Peter Giunta Peter Giunta (;2004 Kansas City Chiefs Rosters and Depth Char ...

. He was fired on January 4, 2010, after the Giants defense slipped as the team dropped 8 of their last 11 games and allowed 40 points on five different occasions, a franchise record. On January 19, 2010, Sheridan was hired by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

to coach their inside linebackers. On February 17, 2012, the

hired Sheridan as their defensive coordinator. He was relieved of his duties on January 2, 2014. On January 1, 2014, Sheridan agreed to become the linebackers coach 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) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. In June, 2016, Sheridan was named to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

s Dream Coaching Team for the NFL for Linebackers. In 2018, Sheridan became a coach for the Boston College Eagles, beginning as a defensive backs coach and ending as their defensive coordinator. In 2020, Sheridan was named defensive line coach for the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. On February 22, 2022, Sheridan was named the inside linebackers coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. He resigned in May 2022 after coming under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations during his tenure at Air Force. Sheridan was officially hired by the

on September 13, 2022

References

External links

Ohio State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Bill 1959 births Living people Army Black Knights football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Grand Valley State Lakers football players Maine Black Bears football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators New York Giants coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Sportspeople from Detroit Boston College Eagles football coaches