Kris Richard (born October 28, 1979) 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 was most recently the defensive backs coach for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

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 previously served as an assistant coach for 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 ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

High school

Richard prepped at Serra High School in Gardena, California.

College

Richard attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, where he 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 ...

as a cornerback under coach Paul Hackett and Pete Carroll from 1998 to 2001.

National Football League

He was drafted by the

in the 3rd round (85th overall) in the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. He played for the Seahawks for three seasons. He was traded to 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 ...

for

Ronald Flemons Ronald L. Flemons (born October 20, 1979) is a former gridiron football defensive lineman. He attended John Marshall High School and Texas A&M University. Flemons was drafted in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft, 226th overall, by the Atlan ...

in 2005. He was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in 2005 and 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 ...

in 2007.

Coaching career

USC

Richard was hired in 2008 by Carroll as a graduate assistant coach for the USC secondary (

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).

Seattle Seahawks

He followed Carroll to the NFL and joined his former team, the Seahawks, as secondary coach. Richard was instrumental to the formation of the Legion of Boom defensive secondary. He helped coach and develop players such as Richard Sherman,

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 ...

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 ...

, Brandon Browner,

Byron Maxwell Byron S. Maxwell (born February 23, 1988) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, where he was a member of the Seahawks' defensive group known as the Legion of ...

and for his rookie season only,

Shaquill Griffin Shaquill "Shaq" Griffin (born July 20, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He is the twin brother of former linebacker Shaquem Griffin, and both brothers played college f ...

. ''

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

'' described the Legion of Boom's accomplishments as a credit not only to Richard, but to Carroll, who was a safety himself in his playing days and began his coaching career as a secondary coach. He won his first Super Bowl title when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. After losing Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks promoted Richard to defensive coordinator to replace Dan Quinn, who had left to become the head coach for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. As the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks, Richard's defense ranked first in points allowed for the 2015 season, third in 2016 and thirteenth in 2017. Richard was relieved of his defensive coordinator duties following the 2017 season.

Dallas Cowboys

On January 22, 2018, Richard was hired by the

as their defensive backs coach. On January 13, 2020, it was reported that Richard would not be retained by Dallas following the removal of head coach Jason Garrett.

New Orleans Saints

On February 2, 2021, Richard was hired by the

as their defensive backs coach under head coach

Sean Payton Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

, replacing Aaron Glenn, who departed to become the defensive coordinator 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 ...

. On February 1, 2023, Richard parted ways with the Saints.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Kris 1979 births Living people American football cornerbacks Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players People from Carson, California People from Gardena, California Players of American football from California San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks coaches Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California USC Trojans football coaches USC Trojans football players National Football League defensive coordinators Dallas Cowboys coaches New Orleans Saints coaches