Vanchi LaShawn "Shawn" Jefferson Sr. (born February 22, 1969) 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 wide receiver who is the associate head coach & wide receivers coach for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

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 the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for 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 ...

from 2019 to 2020 and also previously served as an assistant coach for 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 ...

, Tennessee Titans and

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 ...

. Jefferson 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 Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

. Jefferson was selected by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

in the ninth round of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 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 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. In his career, Jefferson appeared in 195 games (along with 12 postseason games), and two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

appearances (

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

and

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

). He finished his career with 470

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s for 7,023 yards and 29

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

Coaching career

Detroit Lions

In 2006, Jefferson was hired by the

as an offensive assistant. In 2007, he was promoted to wide receivers coach.

Tennessee Titans

In 2013, Jefferson was hired by the Tennessee Titans as their wide receivers coach.

Miami Dolphins

On January 12, 2016, Jefferson was hired by the

as their wide receivers coach under head coach Adam Gase.

New York Jets

In 2019, Jefferson followed Gase to be his assistant head coach and wide receivers coach with the

Arizona Cardinals

On January 19, 2021, Jefferson was hired by the

as their wide receivers coach under head coach Kliff Kingsbury, replacing

David Raih David Raih (born September 9, 1980) is an American football coach. He currently serves as a senior offensive analyst for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to this position, he most recently served as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach a ...

. On May 10, 2022, Jefferson was promoted to associate head coach.

Personal life

Jefferson's son is

Van Jefferson Vanchi LaShawn Jefferson Jr. (born July 26, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and Florida and was selected by the Los Angeles ...

, a wide receiver for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He played college football at Ole Miss and Florida.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals profileDetroit Lions profile
1969 births Living people American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons players Detroit Lions coaches Detroit Lions players Miami Dolphins coaches New England Patriots players New York Jets coaches San Diego Chargers players Tennessee Titans coaches UCF Knights football players William M. Raines High School alumni Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Arizona Cardinals coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients {{widereceiver-1960s-stub