Sean Spencer (born December 15, 1970), nicknamed "Coach Chaos", 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. He is the co-defensive coordinator at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, a position he had held since the 2022 season. Spencer was the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach and run-game coordinator for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

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) from 2020 to 2021. 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

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

at Clarion University of Pennsylvania—now known as

PennWest Clarion Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion, also known as PennWest Clarion, is a public university campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania. Part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the institution was founded in 1867 and offers ...

Early life

A native of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, Spencer is a 1988 graduate of

Bulkeley High School Morgan Gardner Bulkeley High School (known as Bulkeley High School) is a public secondary school on the south side of Hartford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1926 and is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. The school has an academic f ...

, where he was a teammate of future

(NFL) coach

Eric Mangini Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini had been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2013 and served as the team's tight ends coach for two seasons before b ...

.Conner, Desmon
“From The Streets Of Hartford To Penn State Associate Head Football Coach, Sean Spencer Keeps Rising”
''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'', February 21, 2018, retrieved February 23, 2018. He and Mangini played for Graham Martin, whom Spencer said may have been his most important coach because he sparked his interest in teaching.Doyle, Pau
“Vanderbilt Assistant Sean Spencer Has Strong Connection To Hartford”
''

'', September 9, 2011, retrieved February 24, 2018.

College playing career

Spencer, was the starting

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

for the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Clarion Golden Eagles The Clarion Golden Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Pennsylvania Western University Clarion (known before July 2022 as Clarion University of Pennsylvania), located in Clarion, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. ...

for three seasons. He was named to the 1992 Division II Preseason

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team by ''The Sporting News''.UMass Profile
retrieved February 24, 2018.

Coaching career

Wesleyan

Former high school teammate

helped Spencer land his first coaching job at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, Mangini's alma mater. He coached wide receivers and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s for the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, Cardinals and learned under head coach Frank Hauser. Spencer nearly landed an entry-level job with

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

and the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, where Mangini was working, but the team wanted someone local.

Shippensburg

In 1996 and 1997, Spencer landed in the PSAC coaching running backs for the Division II,

Shippensburg Raiders The Shippensburg Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Raiders are members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic ...

Trinity

After this, Spencer would return home to

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

where he coached three seasons for the

Trinity Bantams The Trinity College Bantams are the varsity and club athletic teams of Trinity College, a selective liberal arts college located in Hartford, Connecticut. Trinity's varsity teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference of the ...

. He would coach running backs in 1998 and 1999 and defensive line in 2000 for head coach

Chuck Priore Chuck Priore (born February 17, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Stony Brook University, a position he has held since the 2006 season. Priore served the head football coach at Trinity C ...

UMass

Spencer served as the defensive line coach for the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

UMass Minutemen The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the ''Minutemen'' nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as ...

, and head coach

Mark Whipple Mark John Whipple (born April 1, 1957) is an American football coach, who most recently served as offensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2022. Whipple was the head football coach at University of New Haven from 1988 to 1993, Brown University from 1 ...

from 2001 to 2003. In his final season, the Minutemen finish second in the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

with 34 sacks, and three defensive linemen earned all conference honors. Standout Vladamar Brower, earned

honors, and was a

Buck Buchanan Award The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was d ...

finalist.

Holy Cross

Spencer spent 2004 coaching the defensive line for the Division I-AA,

Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, th ...

, and head coach Tom Gilmore. Spencer's assistant defensive line coach that season was first year coach

Ricky Rahne Ricky Rahne (born July 19, 1980) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at Old Dominion University. He played college football at Cornell. Early life A native of Morrison, Colorado, Rahne attended Bear ...

, whom he would later coach with at Vanderbilt and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Villanova

After one season at Holy Cross, Spencer served as

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 ...

s coach for the Division I-AA

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and rowing where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (Football Championship Sub ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Hofstra

In 2006, Spencer would coach defensive line for the FCS,

Hofstra Pride The Hofstra Pride (formerly the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen) are composed of 17 teams representing Hofstra University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women’s basketball, cross-country running, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and tra ...

and had an

NFL 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 major ...

summer internship with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

UMass

In 2007, Spencer made a return to UMass to coach the defensive line and coordinate the special teams for head coach Don Brown. He would spend two successful seasons with the Minutemen, helping the team to consecutive Colonial Athletic titles. Under Spencer's tutelage, the Minutemen would record 44 sacks in the 2007. Spencer also had success leading the

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, mentoring All-CAA kick returner Courtney Robinson and

punter Brett Arnold.

Bowling Green

Spencer coached defensive line for the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

and head coach

Dave Clawson David Paul Clawson (born August 16, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served a ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

–

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Vanderbilt

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Spencer was hired by coach James Franklin at Vanderbilt, to coach the defensive line. During his three seasons at Vanderbilt, Spencer's defensive lines, nicknamed the "Wild Dogs" helped Vanderbilt finish in the Top 25 in total defense and recorded 42.5 tackles for loss in 2013 alone.McGonigal, Joh
"James Franklin, Penn State announces football coaching staff"
''

The Daily Collegian The ''Daily Collegian'' is a student-produced news outlet, with a newspaper and website, that is published independently at the Pennsylvania State University. The newspaper is printed twice a week during the fall and spring semesters, and once ...

'', January 24, 2014, retrieved February 28, 2018. In 2011 Tim Fugger earned second team All- SEC honors, posting 8 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Penn State

On January 24, 2014, it was officially announced that Sean Spencer would be following James Franklin to

as the defensive line coach. Prior to the official announcement, it was reported that the position was first offered to long time Penn State assistant Larry Johnson but was turned down by the coach. In 2015, Spencer's defensive line led the FBS in sacks per game (3.54), sixth in tackles for loss (8.2), and 14th in total defense (324.5).

Carl Nassib Carl Paul Nassib (born April 12, 1993) is an American football outside linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) . He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, earning unanimous All-American h ...

broke Penn State's single-season sack record with 15.5 and won the Rotary

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...

Lott IMPACT Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...

Ted Hendricks Award The Ted Hendricks Award is given annually to college football's top defensive end. The award is named after Ted Hendricks, a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is presented by his own foundation. In ...

and Nagurski–Woodson Defensive Player of the Year. Nassib was selected in the third round by the

in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

with the 65th pick. Defensive tackle Austin Johnson garnered second team All-Big Ten honors and was selected 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 ...

in the second round with the 43rd pick. Defensive tackle

Anthony Zettel Anthony Zettel (born August 9, 1992) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Penn State. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. High school career Zettel attended Ogemaw ...

who finished third team All-Big Ten was selected in the sixth round 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 ...

with the 202nd pick. Spencer's defensive line helped the Nittany Lions finish the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

season with 42 sacks, marking the third-straight season with 40 or more sacks. It was the first time since 2005–07 Penn State had three consecutive season with 40 or more sacks. Besides the on-field success, the "Wild Dogs" and defensive line coach Sean Spencer donated 68 turkeys and 100 pounds of potatoes to the State College

Food Bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...

for Thanksgiving food distributions in 2017. The donation was a partnership with the Student Book Store, which sold the official "Wild Dogs" T-shirts. Spencer, who would add the title of associate head coach in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, helped the Nittany Lions defense lead the country in sacks per game with 3.62 and fourth in tackles for loss with 8.2 per game. It was the fourth straight season the defense finished with 40 or more total sacks. The defensive line was led by sophomore defensive end

Yetur Gross-Matos Yetur Akkub Gross-Matos (born February 26, 1998) is an American football defensive end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Panthers in the second round ...

who finished the season with 8 sacks and 20 tackles for loss, earning him first team All-Big Ten honors. Junior defensive end

Shareef Miller Shareef Abdul Miller (born March 14, 1997) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Early y ...

earned third team All-Big Ten, while junior defensive tackle Robert Windsor received honorable mention recognition. Miller declared for the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

and was selected by 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 ...

in the fourth round, 138th overall.

New York Giants

It was announced that Spencer would make the jump to the

for the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

season coaching with the

under Joe Judge.

Florida

It was announced on January 11, 2022, that Spencer would join Florida as its co-defensive coordinator and defensive-line coach under head coach

Billy Napier William Hall Napier (born July 21, 1979) is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he served as head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, amassing a 40–12 rec ...

. After originally accepting the same position at Duke.

References

External links

Florida profile

UMass profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Sean 1970 births Living people American football safeties Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Clarion Golden Eagles football players Florida Gators football coaches Hofstra Pride football coaches Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches New York Giants coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Shippensburg Raiders football coaches Trinity Bantams football coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Villanova Wildcats football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Coaches of American football from Connecticut Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople