Anthony Michael Sparano Jr. (born October 22, 1986) 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 who is the offensive line coach for 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 ...

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 has previously served as the assistant DL coach of the

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

, the quality control and offense 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 ...

, an offensive assistant 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 ...

, and an assistant offensive line coach for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He most recently had been the assistant offensive line coach of 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. ...

College

Sparano attended the

University of Albany A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, playing defensive end, and made 24 career appearances; he earned three varsity letters and "2008 ESPN The Magazine All-District 1 Academic Team".

Coaching career

Hartford Colonials

Sparano started out his coaching career with the

. They hired him as a defensive line assistant based on his experience as a defensive player for the

for three years and his background with his father

Tony Sparano Anthony Joseph Sparano III (October 7, 1961 – July 22, 2018) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and is the only NFL head coach to have l ...

being the assistant coach for the Browns.

Miami Dolphins

After coaching a year there Sparano then moved to coach the

as a quality control coach, where he was working under his father

New York Jets

After his father was fired from the Dolphins both Sparano men started coaching with the

in 2012. Tony started out coaching with the Jets as a seasonal intern and then an offensive intern. After his father was fired from the Jets as the assistant head coach, head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

decided that he wanted to keep Tony and give him a promotion. Sparano accepted the promotion to offensive assistant and was said to be an asset to the team by doing "the job of a ton of guys" (Ryan).

Buffalo Bills

Sparano was with the Jets for three years and after Ryan was fired, he followed him when he became the new head coach for the

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

. On January 17, 2017, Sparano was replaced by

Rob Boras Rob Boras (born September 30, 1970) is an American football coach who is the tight ends coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He served as offensive coordinator of the St.Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2015–2016 an ...

as the Buffalo Bills tight ends' coach under

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, ...

's new coaching staff.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On January 19, 2017, it was announced that Sparano would be joining the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

as an assistant tight ends coach.

Carolina Panthers

On January 19, 2021, it was announced that Sparano would be joining the

as an assistant offensive line coach.

New York Giants

On February 10, 2022, the

hired Sparano as an assistant offensive line coach.

Indianapolis Colts

On February 27, 2023, the

hired Sparano as the offensive line coach.

Personal life

Sparano was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of former NFL head coach

. Sparano is married and has four children: Anthony Jr., Gabriella, Mia and Gianna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparano, Tony Jr. 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Boston Miami Dolphins coaches New York Jets coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches New York Giants coaches