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 wi ...
coach and former
wide receiver who is the associate head coach &
wide receivers coach
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators.
Common ...
for the
Arizona Cardinals 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 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 p ...
,
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 hom ...
and
Detroit Lions.
Jefferson played
college football 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 a ...
in the ninth round of the
1991 NFL Draft. In his career, Jefferson appeared in 195 games (along with 12 postseason games), and two
Super Bowl appearances (
Super Bowl XXIX and
Super Bowl XXXI). 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 ...
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 Amer ...
s.
Coaching career
Detroit Lions
In 2006, Jefferson was hired by the
Detroit Lions as an offensive assistant. In 2007, he was promoted to wide receivers coach.
Tennessee Titans
In 2013, Jefferson was hired 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 hom ...
as their wide receivers coach.
Miami Dolphins
On January 12, 2016, Jefferson was hired by 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 p ...
as their wide receivers coach under head coach
Adam Gase
Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for ...
.
New York Jets
In 2019, Jefferson followed Gase to be his assistant head coach and wide receivers coach with the
New York Jets.
Arizona Cardinals
On January 19, 2021, Jefferson was hired by the
Arizona Cardinals as their wide receivers coach under head coach
Kliff Kingsbury
Kliff Timothy Kingsbury (born August 9, 1979) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously a collegiate football coach from 2008 to ...
, replacing
David Raih. On May 10, 2022, Jefferson was promoted to associate head coach.
Personal life
Jefferson's son is
Van Jefferson, a wide receiver for the
Los Angeles Rams. 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
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