Derrick Ansley (born December 11, 1981) 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 who is 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

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

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 previously the defensive coordinator at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He played safety at

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

from 2001-2004 before starting his coaching career at

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

, a Division-III school in 2005.

Playing career

Ansley played high school football at Tallassee High School, where he was an All-State honorable mention in 1998 and an All-State recipient in 1999. He played college football at

, where he started 40 consecutive games and had 19 interceptions in his career. He is tied for second-most interceptions in Troy history. Ansley is a member of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

fraternity.

Coaching career

Huntingdon

Ansley started his coaching career in 2005, where he was the defensive backs coach at

Alabama

In 2010, he made the jump to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

as an on-field defensive graduate assistant. He spent one year as the defensive backs coach at

before leaving for the same position at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. His secondary improved every year he was there, going from 64th in pass defense in 2013, 44th in 2014, and 32nd in 2015. They also went from 85th in passing touchdowns allowed to 28th in 2015. He was hired by Alabama to serve the same role in 2016. While he was there, he coached

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...

and

Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Paycom ...

winner

Minkah Fitzpatrick Minkah Annane Fitzpatrick Jr. (born November 17, 1996) is an American football free safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama, and was drafted by ...

and All-American

Marlon Humphrey Marlon N. Humphrey (born July 8, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Hoover High School, where he was named to the USA Today All-USA high school football team in ...

Oakland Raiders

In 2018, he was hired by 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 ...

to be their defensive backs coach, becoming the highest-paid defensive backs coach in the

NFL 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 major ...

. His unit improved from five interceptions in 2017 to 14 in 2018.

Tennessee

The following year, he was hired as the defensive coordinator at

. His defense improved from 77th in total defense to 23rd. He was not retained after the 2020 season due to the pay for play scandal.

Los Angeles Chargers

In 2021 he became the defensive backs coach for the

. On February 20, 2023, Ansley was promoted from defensive backs coach to

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansley, Derrick 1981 births Living people People from Tallassee, Alabama American football defensive backs Players of American football from Alabama Troy Trojans football players Coaches of American football from Alabama Huntingdon Hawks football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Los Angeles Chargers coaches National Football League defensive coordinators