Charles Evans Bresnahan (pronounced "BREZ-nuh-han"; born September 8, 1960) 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 and former player. He is the Defensive Line and Outside Linebackers coach for the

Vegas Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL (2020), XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team beg ...

. He was 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 ...

of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

on two occasions and the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

of the National Football League (NFL) as well as the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

and

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional 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 rect ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He also served as

in the college ranks at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

and University of Maine. Bresnahan also served as an assistant coach with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the NFL and the United States Naval Academy (Navy) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in the college ranks. Bresnahan also assisted in the Officiating Department of the NFL for 3 seasons. He is the son of Tom Bresnahan, a long time NFL assistant and Offensive Coordinator who coached 4 Super Bowls under Marv Levy (HOF-2001) with the Buffalo Bills.

Coaching career

Bresnahan began his coaching career at

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

under

Gary Tranquill Gary Tranquill (born April 13, 1940) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was last the offensive coordinator at Boston College, a position he held until 2010. From 1982 to 1986, Tranquill served as the head football coach ...

in 1986. From 1987 to 1991 he was an assistant coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team that won the 1990 UPI National Championship under head coach

Bobby Ross Robert Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1936) is an American former football coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel (1973–1977), the University of Maryland, College Park (1982–1986), the Georgia Institute of Technology (1 ...

. He was hired by the Head Coach, Kirk Ferentz, to be the

for the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice ...

from 1992 to 1993. In 1994 Bresnahan made the move to the NFL when he was hired by then Head Coach, Bill Belichick, as the assistant linebackers coach for the

. He was promoted to linebackers coach in 1995. From 1996 to 1997 Bresnahan served as linebackers coach of the

. He was the

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

from 1998 to 1999 before he was promoted by then Head Coach, Jon Gruden, to defensive coordinator and spent 2000 to 2003 in that role. During that time the Raiders won three consecutive AFC West Championships, appeared in two AFC Conference Championship games and Super Bowl XXXVII. Bresnahan joined the

' coaching staff in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

as a defensive assistant coach, and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2005 by then Head Coach, Marvin Lewis. In 2005 the Bengals registered their first winning season and reached the NFL Playoffs for the first time in 17 years capturing the AFC North Championship. After the team went 7–9 in the 2008 regular season, he was fired and spent 2009 and 2010 as the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, with the

of the United Football League (UFL) where the Tuskers played in two consecutive UFL Championship games. In 2011 Bresnahan was hired back by the

as their defensive coordinator. The team finished 8-8 but he was not retained following the season when Head Coach Hue Jackson was fired. Bresnahan spent the 2012 season with the

as their defensive coordinator; he was later part of a joint lawsuit that sued the team for unpaid salary. In 2013 he was hired to serve as defensive coordinator, under newly hired head coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football, Western Kentucky (2009 to ...

, at the

. After two seasons with the Bulls, he was fired along with the Offensive Coordinator

Paul Wulff Paul Louis Wulff (born February 25, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. In December 2022, he was appointed head coach at California Polytechnic State University. Wulff previously served as the head coach at Eastern Washington ...

and assistant Coach, Ron Cooper. Bresnahan spent the 2015 season as the defensive coordinator of the University of Central Florida under head coach

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015 ...

. Bresnahan was hired by

Dean Blandino Dean Blandino (born September 13, 1971) is a rules analyst for Fox Sports. He previously served as the NFL's Vice President of Officiating from 2013 to 2017 and the head of officiating for the XFL in 2020. Biography Early years Blandino grew up ...

, NFL Vice President of Officiating, in 2016 to help bring a coaching perspective to the NFL Officiating Department. Upon the departure of Blandino, he remained in this position under new NFL Vice President of Officiating, Al Riveron for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Bresnahan then joined Pro Football Hall of Famer

Bill Polian William Patrick Polian Jr. (born December 8, 1942) is an American football executive. He rose to league prominence as the General Manager of the Buffalo Bills, building a team that participated in four straight Super Bowls—the most consecutive ...

(HOF-2015) in his efforts to start the Alliance of American Football. He was the league's Assistant Director of Officiating and worked under Polian in Football Operations. He remained in this position until the Alliance declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 2, 2019. In May, 2019, he joined forces with a teammate at the United States Naval Academy and former lead pilot for the Navy's Blue Angels, John Foley. He was hired to help create and supervise the Sports Division of John Foley CenterPoint Companies, Inc serving as Vice President of Sports Division. Bresnahan was named head coach of the Jousters of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

in October 2020, but was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Jousters after week 3, due to a disagreement on how to handle a COVID-19 breakout within his team. He has since joined his former player and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Rod Woodson (HOF-2009), as Head Football Coach – Football Delivery & Strategy of HOPE Through Football. Bresnahan has also worked with multiple foundations, charities and developmental organizations such as Teammates for Kids, The Progeria Research Foundation, Boys & Girls Club of Oakland, CA, Football University and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy. Bresnahan was officially hired by the

on September 13, 2022

Personal life

Bresnahan attended and graduated from St. Mary's High School in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. Bresnahan was is a 1983 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. His father

Tom Bresnahan Tom Bresnahan (born January 21, 1935, in Springfield, Massachusetts) was the Offensive coordinator of the NFL's Buffalo Bills from 1992-1996. He was promoted after serving as the team's offensive line coach and would hold both responsibilities. ...

, was a longtime football coach and spent sixteen years as an NFL assistant, including 10 seasons with the

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

, where he coached in their four straight Super Bowl appearances under Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach,

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 ...

. While attending St. Mary’s High School, Bresnahan was involved as the driver in a single vehicle accident. Passenger and friend Michael Patmoore did not survive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bresnahan, Chuck 1960 births Living people American football linebackers Cincinnati Bengals coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Florida Tuskers coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Navy Midshipmen football players Oakland Raiders coaches Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Sportspeople from Annapolis, Maryland The Spring League coaches Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Maryland Wyoming Seminary alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts