Jerry Don Gray (born December 16, 1962) 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 backs coach and passing game coordinator for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

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). Gray played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where he garnered All-American honors. Thereafter, he played professionally for the

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

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

, and

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 NFL.

Early years

Gray was born in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

. He attended Lubbock Estacado High School.

College

Gray was a two-time consensus first-team All-American at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. During his career, he was known for being an especially hard hitter. He had 297 career tackles, 16 interceptions and 20 passes broken up and played on four bowl teams at Texas coached by

Fred Akers Fred Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Universit ...

. In 2013, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Playing career

Gray was the Rams' first-round choice in the 1985 NFL Draft and played seven years in Los Angeles before finishing his career with the Oilers in 1992 and the Buccaneers in 1993. He had 28 career interceptions, including six for the Oilers in 1992. Gray was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

four times attending the game from 1986 through 1989. In his final appearance he earned

Pro Bowl MVP The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

honors after recording 7 tackles and a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown. In 2001, Gray was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but was not chosen as a semi-finalist.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Gray turned to coaching. His coaching career began in 1995 as a defensive backs coach for the

SMU Mustangs football The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team representing Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park in Dallas County, Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the American ...

team. He then worked for the

Tennessee Oilers 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 the ...

as a Defensive Quality Control coach from 1997 to 1998 before being promoted to

defensive back 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 ...

s coach in 1999 when the team name was changed from "Oilers" to "Titans". In 2001, he was hired by former Titans

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 ...

Gregg Williams Gregg Williams (born July 15, 1958) is an American football coach. He most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019 to 2020. Previously, he was head coach of the Buff ...

to run 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. ...

defense the same year Williams left Tennessee to become the Buffalo

Head Coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. He served as the

for the

from 2001 to 2005, where he oversaw one of the top defenses in the NFL until his final season. The Bills ranked 2nd in total defense in both 2003 and 2004. After the 2005 season he was hired by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

to serve as their defensive backs coach On January 18, 2010, Gray was hired as the new defensive backs coach for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

where he coached the rookie safety tandem of

Earl Thomas Earl Winty Thomas III (born May 7, 1989) is an American former football free safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. During his time with the Sea ...

and

Kam Chancellor Kameron Darnel Chancellor (born April 3, 1988), nicknamed "Bam Bam", is an American former football strong safety who played for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech prior t ...

. On January 17, 2011, Gray agreed to return to his alma mater Texas as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. On February 12, 2011, however, Gray rejoined the Titans as their defensive coordinator. On January 22, 2014, Gray was hired as the new defensive backs coach for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. On January 29, 2020, Gray was hired as defensive backs coach for the

. On March 1, 2021, Gray was promoted to defensive backs/passing game coordinator.

Personal life

Gray and his wife Sherry, also from Lubbock, have two sons together. The eldest was a defensive back for the

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

. Gray started the Jerry Gray Foundation in 2002 and it continues to actively supports youth in Lubbock, providing scholarships in partnership with Texas Tech.http://lubbockonline.com/node/70237#.UqT26fRDuCk

References

External links

Official Seahawks website biography of Coach Gray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Jerry 1962 births Living people All-American college football players American football cornerbacks American football safeties Buffalo Bills coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Green Bay Packers coaches Houston Oilers players Los Angeles Rams players National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League defensive coordinators People from Lubbock, Texas Players of American football from Texas Seattle Seahawks coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee Oilers coaches Tennessee Titans coaches Texas Longhorns football players Washington Redskins coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients