Frank Bush (born January 10, 1963) is the linebackers coach of the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...

. He 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 wi ...

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, ...

in 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 majo ...

. He was drafted 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 fifth round of the

1985 NFL Draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also held a ...

. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at North Carolina State.

Playing career

Bush was drafted by the

in the fifth round of the

. As a rookie, he started 11 of 16 games recording three sacks. During his second season in 1986 he started the first three games of the season when an examination following an injury, revealed that he had a narrow spinal canal. This condition, not caused by play, made it too risky for him to continue playing.

Coaching career

Houston Oilers

In 1987, Bush was hired by the Oilers to be their college scout and he remained at the position until 1992 when he was promoted to

linebackers 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 ...

. He served as the team's linebackers coach until 1994.

Denver Broncos

From 1995 to 1999 Bush served as the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

linebackers coach under

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he le ...

and was a member of the teams back-to-back

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 gam ...

victories over 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) North division. It is the t ...

Super Bowl XXXII Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers (who were defending their Super Bowl XXXI championship) and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver ...

and

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

. In 2000, he served as the secondary/nickel package coach and was 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 ...

coach from 2001 to 2003.

Arizona Cardinals

From 2004 to 2006, Bush served as linebackers 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 th ...

under

Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 21, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances ...

. Along with being the linebackers coach in 2006, he was also the assistant head coach to Green.

Houston Texans

From 2007 to 2008, Bush served as the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

’ senior defensive assistant under head coach

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Denver Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position ...

. Before the 2009 season, Bush was promoted to defensive coordinator. He was fired at the end of the 2010 season after the Texans finished third-to-last in the NFL in total defense.

Tennessee Titans

On February 16, 2011, Bush was hired as the new linebacker coach of 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 ...

St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams

Bush spent four seasons as linebackers coach for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, from 2013 to 2016.

Miami Dolphins

On January 19, 2017, Bush was hired as assistant head coach and linebackers coach of the Miami Dolphins, after Matt Burke was promoted to defensive coordinator a week before as the replacement for

Vance Joseph Vance Desmond Joseph (born September 20, 1972) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Previously he was the head coach of the Denver Bronco ...

, who left to become head coach of the Denver Broncos.

New York Jets

On February 8, 2019 The New York Jets hired Bush as their inside linebackers coach. Following a loss to the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

in the final seconds of their Week 13 matchup, defensive coordinator

Gregg Williams Gregg Williams (born July 15, 1958) is an American football coach. He most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019 to 2020. Previously, he was head coach of the Buffalo ...

was fired with Bush taking his place.

Atlanta Falcons

on January 22, 2021, the Atlanta Falcons hired Bush to be their linebackers coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Frank 1963 births Living people American football linebackers Arizona Cardinals coaches Atlanta Falcons coaches Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Denver Broncos coaches Houston Oilers coaches Houston Oilers players Houston Texans coaches National Football League defensive coordinators NC State Wolfpack football players Miami Dolphins coaches Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Athens, Georgia St. Louis Rams coaches Tennessee Titans coaches