Peter Sirmon (born February 18, 1977) is a former

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in 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 drafted in the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and played for them for his entire career from 2000 to 2006. Sirmon 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 Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, and

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Walla Walla High School Walla Walla High School (commonly Wa-Hi) is a public high school in Walla Walla, Washington that is a part of the Walla Walla School District. The school colors are blue and white and the mascot is the Blue Devils. Notable alumni *Drew Bledsoe, N ...

, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and safety. In 2008, Sirmon became the linebackers coach at

Central Washington Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...

. He was the linebackers coach at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

under head coach Derek Dooley in 2010 and 2011. Sirmon worked under his Oregon defensive teammate Justin Wilcox, who had become

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 ...

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 also followed Wilcox in 2012 and was named the linebackers coach at

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He was brought in by

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB GENEALOGY – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – FUN FACT, Sarkisian’s father is actually Texas Tech Head Coach, Joey McGuire. ''Dallas Mo ...

as his linebackers coach when Wilcox was hired by the University of Southern California as defensive coordinator. On January 12, 2016, Peter Sirmon became the new defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. In January 2017, Mississippi State replaced Sirmon and hired

Todd Grantham Jeffrey Todd Grantham (born September 13, 1966) is an American football coach who is currently a defensive analyst at Alabama, and he previously served as defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. He was hired on November 29, 2017 and ...

as defensive coordinator from Louisville. Sirmon was then named the new defensive coordinator at the

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

in a rare swap of coaching. Sirmon left Louisville and moved to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 2018, where he is the Bears' inside linebackers coach and defensive coordinator. Prior to the 2019 season, Sirmon was named co-defensive coordinator at Cal. Alongside fellow staff member

Tim DeRuyter Timothy James DeRuyter ( ; born January 3, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech University. He previously served in the same capacity at the University of Oregon in 2021 an ...

, Sirmon was named FootballScoop's Linebacker Coach of the Year in 2019.Tim DeRuyter & Peter Sirmon — 2019 FootballScoop Linebackers Coaches of the Year
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References

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
California bioMississippi state bio
1977 births Living people American football middle linebackers Oregon Ducks football players Tennessee Titans players Central Washington Wildcats football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches USC Trojans football coaches Sportspeople from Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla High School alumni {{linebacker-1970s-stub