A quality control coach is a member of the coaching staff of a
team whose primary job is preparing the team for a game, beginning sometimes two or three weeks before the actual game. Their primary duties include preparing for the game by analyzing game film for statistical analysis.
Quality control coach is typically an entry-level position for
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) coaches before moving on to positional jobs and coordinator positions. Several head coaches, such as
Jon Gruden
Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...
,
Ron Rivera, and
Robert Saleh
Robert Saleh (born January 31, 1979) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). A defensive coach for much of his 20-year coaching career, Saleh has served as an assistant co ...
began their coaching career in quality control. The first full-time female coach in NFL history,
Kathryn Smith, was hired as a quality control coach by 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. ...
in 2016.
There are three different types of quality control teams: offensive, defensive, and special teams. Offensive quality control will chart the upcoming teams' defense for various down and distance situations, field positions and how many times they use particular personnel groupings. Defensive quality control will do similar analysis of the offense. Special teams quality control will figure out what players are used in various special situations such as kickoff and punt.
References
American football occupations
*Quality control coach
Canadian football
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