David Lee (born July 2, 1953) 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. Lee has spent many years as a quarterbacks coach, and has served as the head coach of the

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

College

Lee attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

from 1971 to 1975 where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1975. As the quarterback for the

Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...

team, he served as team captain and was named the team's most valuable player in 1974. Lee went on to lead his team to a record of record of 7–3–2 including a 6–6 tie against the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

Coaching career

College

Lee began his coaching career at the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...

as the quarterbacks and receivers coach. During his time at the University of Tennessee at Martin, he organized the first

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was found ...

chapter in the school's history. He then left Tennessee-Martin to return to his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, where he coached as the quarterbacks coach for one season. He then spent the next five season as a quarterbacks coach (1978–1982) with the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. In 1983, he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. Lee left the University of New Mexico to join the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

coaching staff. He coached at the University of Arkansas for four years under

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

. During his four years as the Razorbacks quarterbacks coach, Lee helped direct the Razorback teams with a record of 45–15–1 as well as five consecutive bowl appearances and was also promoted to offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas in 1988 where he help lead the Razorbacks to a

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

title. In 1989, he accepted his first head coaching job with the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP) from 1989 to 1993 and posted a record of 11–41–1. In 1994, Lee joined the Hatfield's coaching staff at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach where he helped lead Rice to a share of the

title. Lee returned to Arkansas in 2001 and helped the Razorbacks to a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Western Division title.

Professional

Lee accepted a professional football coaching position with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in 2003. As an offensive assistant and offensive quality control coach in his first year with the Cowboys, he helped the Cowboys offense finish 15th overall which was a moderate improvement from the 2002 season. In his third year, his role with the Cowboys increased as he became the quarterbacks coach.

Return to coaching college

Following his fourth year with the Cowboys as offensive quality control, Lee returned to the University of Arkansas as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2007. Lee followed

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University ( ...

to Ole Miss to be their offensive coordinator, however, his old boss,

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

—the Miami Dolphins new VP of Football Operations—hired Lee to be the Dolphins quarterback coach for the 2008 season. Lee was named “Innovator of the Year” 2008 by ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' for introducing the “

Wildcat offense Wildcat formation describes a formation for the offense in football in which the ball is snapped not to the quarterback but directly to a player of another position lined up at the quarterback position. (In most systems, this is a running back, but ...

” to the NFL. After finishing a two-year stint at Miami, on Monday January 11, 2011 Lee was brought back to the University of Mississippi as offensive coordinator under head coach Houston Nutt.

Buffalo Bills

Following the departure of

George Cortez George Cortez (born February 11, 1951) is a gridiron football coach who has spent most of his coaching career with in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was notably the head coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats during the 2012 season. He attende ...

who took a job as the head coach of the

Hamilton TigerCats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, The Buffalo Bills hired Lee on January 13, 2012 to be the Quarterback coach under

Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the head ...

. He, along with the entire Bills coaching staff, was dismissed on December 31, 2012.

New York Jets

On January 20, 2013, Lee was hired as the QB Coach 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Buffalo Bills

On January 19, 2015, Lee was hired as the QB Coach for 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. ...

. He left this job on February 8, 2017, when he was hired as QB coach of 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 ( ...

Cleveland Browns

On February 8, 2017, Lee was named QB coach for the

by Browns coach

Hue Jackson Hue Jackson (born October 22, 1965) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Grambling State University. An offensive assistant at both the collegiate and professional levels, he held coordinator positions in the Nationa ...

. On January 12, 2018, it was announced that Lee was fired as the Browns' QB coach.

Memphis Express

On October 9, 2018, Lee was named QB coach for the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadi ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

Personal life

Lee spent most of his childhood in

Dexter, Missouri Dexter is a city in Stoddard County, Missouri, United States, founded in 1873. The population was 7,864 at the 2010 census. History Dexter was platted in 1873. Mr. Dex, an early settler, gave the community the name of his horse, Dexter. Dexter ...

. He then attended

Woodham High School Woodham High School was a secondary school located in Pensacola, Florida. The high school was closed after nearly 42 years of operation in May 2007. It is now known as Woodham Middle School. Woodham Middle School is now closed and West Florida ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, where he graduated in 1971. Lee is currently married to Lynne Kazanowski. The couple have four children (daughters Dana and Shannon, and sons Brian and Jordan).

Head coaching record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, David 1953 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Memphis Express (American football) coaches Miami Dolphins coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches New York Jets coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Rice Owls football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches UT Martin Skyhawks football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football players People from Cape Girardeau County, Missouri People from Dexter, Missouri Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida

College

Coaching career

College

Professional

Return to coaching college

Buffalo Bills

New York Jets

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Memphis Express

Personal life

Head coaching record

See also

Notes

References