Phillip Bernard Daniels (born March 4, 1973) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and coach who most recently served as defensive line coach for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 was drafted by 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 ...

in the fourth round of the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Daniels has also played for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Daniels attended Seminole County High School (Donalsonville, GA) and lettered in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball, and baseball.

College career

Daniels attended and played

at the

. While there he played three different positions. As a sophomore, he played defensive tackle, linebacker as a junior, and finally defensive end as a senior and served as team captain.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Daniels was drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

. He played for the team from 1996 to 1999.

Chicago Bears

Daniels signed with the

before the 2000 season and played for them until 2003.

Washington Redskins

Daniels signed with the

as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. On December 18, 2005, he had career high four sacks and also recovered a fumble in a 35–7 win over 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 was named the NFC defensive player of the week. Daniels was released by the Redskins on July 28, 2011. Head coach

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led ...

said that he saw Daniels as a coach or in a front office somewhere because of the way he prepare and handles himself and Daniels was hired the following year as the Washington Redskins Director of Player Development.

Post-playing career

On February 17, 2012, Daniels was hired as the director of player development of the Washington Redskins. Daniels coached the defensive line in the 1st Annual NFLPA All-Star game. He was hired by the

as Assistant Defensive Line Coach on January 20, 2016. Daniels won his first

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

when the Eagles defeated the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. On February 8, 2019, Daniels was promoted internally to become the Eagles' defensive line coach, replacing Chris Wilson, whose contract had expired. On January 17, 2020, it was reported that Daniels would not return to the Eagles' coaching staff in 2020 which was surprise move after having the best unit on the team finishing 3rd vs the run and 11 in sacks with a slew of injuries at the DT position.

Personal life

Daniels and his wife, Leslie, have four children; two sons, DaVaris and DaKendrick, and two daughters, Damara and DaKiya. His son, DaVaris, played

as a wide receiver for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. Furthermore, he is the uncle of

T. J. Jones Tai-ler "T. J." Fitzgerald Jones (born July 19, 1992) is a former American-Canadian professional American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at No ...

, a former wide receiver at the University of Notre Dame, who was drafted in the sixth round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

by 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 ...

. Phillip Daniels is a member of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

fraternity, having joined while at the University of Georgia. List of Phi Beta Sigma brothers#American football

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Phillip 1973 births Living people American football defensive ends Georgia Bulldogs football players Seattle Seahawks players Chicago Bears players Washington Redskins players People from Donalsonville, Georgia Players of American football from Seminole County, Georgia Philadelphia Eagles coaches Houston Gamblers (2022) coaches Brian Piccolo Award winners