Douglas Terrell Buckley (born June 7, 1971) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and current Head Coach of the

Orlando Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLife ...

. He also played professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

for the Mobile Baysharks in the

Texas-Louisiana League The Central Baseball League, formerly the Texas–Louisiana League, was a independent baseball league whose member teams were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises. In 1991, potential owners, Dallas businessman Byron P ...

College career

Buckley was a two-year starter and three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

(1989–91), and left as the school's all-time leader in interceptions (21) and interception return yards (501). His career interception yardage total of 501 is an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record. He also tied school records for touchdowns off interception returns (four) and punt returns (three). He was named first-team All-American and won

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Paycom ...

, given annually to nation's top

, as a junior. He led the nation with 12 interceptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He was named second-team All-American by

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' and ''The Football News'' as a junior. Had six interceptions with two returned for touchdowns. He finished 7th in the Heisman voting in 1991. He played two years of varsity

and was a sprinter on the outdoor

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team for one year. He was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the NFL draft.

Professional career

Buckley is one of only two players (The other being

Ken Riley Kenneth Jerome Riley (August 6, 1947 – June 7, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback. He spent his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals, first in the American Football League (AFL) in 1969 and then the ...

) with 50+ interceptions to never make a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. In a game against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1992, his rookie season, Buckley set what remains a current record as the youngest player to return a punt for a touchdown in NFL history (). That was his only punt return for a touchdown of his career. He responded to criticism of the veracity of his tackling by giving himself the nickname “The Vaccinator”. The nickname would stay with him over the years if only in an ironic sense. On April 3, 1995, the Packers traded Buckley to the Miami Dolphins for "past considerations." In 1996, he led the league in interception return yards with 164. He had at least one interception in 13 consecutive seasons. While playing for 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 ...

, in the 2001 AFC Championship Game against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Buckley had an interception in the 24–17 win. He won a

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 ...

ring one week later in the win over the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Coaching

Florida State

Buckley got his coaching start after earning his undergraduate degree from

in 2007. From 2008–2011, he served in various assistant roles on

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

and

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies Football, Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State Seminol ...

’s staffs.

Akron

Finally getting his first on-the-field coaching position, Buckley was hired by his collegiate head coach's son,

Terry Bowden Terry Wilson Bowden (; born February 24, 1956) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bowden was previously head coach at Salem University (1983–1985), Samford University (1987 ...

, at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

in January 2012 to coach cornerbacks. This reunited him with Coach

Chuck Amato Charles Michael Amato (born June 26, 1946) is a former American football coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Akron Zips football team. He served as the head football at North Carolina State Universi ...

and with Coach

Todd Stroud Todd Stroud (born December 17, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, a position he has held since 2019. He was previously ...

—who he played for, and coached with at FSU.

Louisville

After two seasons at Akron, he was hired as the cornerbacks coach at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

in January 2014.

Mississippi State

On January 7, 2016 Buckley was hired as the

safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the ...

coach at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

Ole Miss

On January 18, 2020, Buckley was hired as cornerbacks coach Ole Miss by

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

, the new Head Coach, MSU's rival (Buckley, having had phenomenal success in both recruiting and developing elite talent both on and off the field, and for grooming NFL talent).

XFL

On April 6, 2022, it was reported that Buckley had accepted a job with the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

to become the Head Coach of an upcoming Orlando franchise (the former

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operation ...

). The league confirmed Buckley's hiring, but not the existence of a team in Orlando, on April 14. On July 25, 2022, the XFL confirmed a franchise in Orlando, Florida with Buckley announced as head coach. On October 31st 2022 the team was branded the

Personal

Buckley has three daughters, Sherrell, Brianna, and Britney. He majored in Theater with a minor in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, and played baseball in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

organization prior to reporting to GB training camp in July 1994. He is the son of Eddie Buckley Sr. of Columbia, MS and Laura Buckley of Pascagoula, MS. He was a distant cousin of former

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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

. His hobbies include baseball, basketball and golf. Has participated in events benefiting the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqua ...

and the

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States established to provide the means to cure cystic fibrosis (CF) and ensure that those living with CF live long and productive lives. The Foundation prov ...

. He has worked on behalf of the national "

Feed the Children Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Its mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." The organ ...

" campaign. He assisted in building a house in

Little Haiti Little Haiti (french: La Petite Haïti, ht, Ti Ayiti), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the ...

for

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

during the 1999 offseason.

Sports Talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

radio host

Jim Rome James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, ''The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by CBS Sports Radio. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on ...

refers to Buckley as "T-Buck" and credits him as one of

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers wer ...

's first guests who appeared consistently on the program. Rome credits Buckley as the inventor of the

Lambeau Leap The Lambeau Leap is a touchdown celebration in American football in which a player leaps into the bleachers behind the end zone after scoring. The celebration was popularized after Green Bay Packers player LeRoy Butler jumped into the Lambea ...

, based on an interview that Buckley gave.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Terrell 1971 births Living people Akron Zips football coaches All-American college football players Baseball players from Mississippi American football cornerbacks Denver Broncos players Florida State Seminoles baseball players Florida State Seminoles football players Green Bay Packers players Louisville Cardinals football coaches Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players New York Giants players New York Jets players Ole Miss Rebels football coaches People from Pascagoula, Mississippi Macon Braves players Mobile BayBears players