Glenn M. Pires (born 1958) 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.

Early life

Pires was born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended school locally, where he became a three-year letter winner in both football and track. He also played in the football team as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

and

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, ...

and was selected for several postseason all-star teams. He later played football for Springfield College, where he became a two-year NCAA Division II All-ECAC and All-New England selection. In the track and field teams at New Bedford High and Springfield College, Pires mostly competed in the field events. He was a Southeastern Massachusetts Conference champion in both the shot put and discus in addition to being a Class A and All State finalist in the discus. His throw of 170–9 remains a New Bedford record. In 1979, he was the Division 2 National Champion in the 35-pound weight

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consist ...

. Based on these achievements, Pires (as a member of the class of 1976) was inducted into the New Bedford High School Hall of Fame on May 11, 2002.

Coaching career

Pires's first coaching role came as an assistant at Melrose High School. He then returned to his former high school at New Bedford, becoming an assistant to his former coach, Bruce MacPherson. Pires then gained collegiate positions at Syracuse University,

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

and Michigan State University. In 1996, he moved from College football to 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) when he became an assistant linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals until 2000. He later praised the work he conducted with

Ronald McKinnon Ronald McKinnon (born September 20, 1973) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals out of the University of North Alabama where he won ...

, who was undrafted and unsigned, but Pires took pride in enabling the player to perform for ten years in the NFL. When he joined the Detroit Lions immediately afterwards, Pires remained in the same position he had undertaken for the Cardinals. When he moved to work with 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 ...

for five years, initially as an assistant defensive line coach for two seasons, then as a defensive quality control coach, before becoming the assistant linebacker coach in 2007. He then moved to work with the Atlanta Falcons over the next seven years as the linebacker coach. In 2014, with the support of Pires, Paul Worrilow was ranked fifth in the NFL for tackles with 142. Pires joined the Chicago Bears in 2015, saying "The tradition of this team is always something that's been very appealing to any coach, especially me, the Midwest and the Chicago Bears, that's where it's at. The tradition of linebackers for the Chicago Bears, the tradition of what they've upheld in the history of the NFL, that's a great challenge I'm looking forward to aintaining" He was not retained by the Bears after the 2018 season as defensive coordinator

Vic Fangio Victor Mick Fangio (born August 22, 1958) is an American football coach who is the defensive consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Fangio most recently served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the ...

departed the team.

Personal life

Pires' family came from Cape Verde, through his maternal grandmother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pires, Glenn 1958 births Living people Atlanta Falcons coaches Arizona Cardinals coaches Chicago Bears coaches Detroit Lions coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Springfield Pride football players Syracuse Orange football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts People from New Bedford, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts African-American coaches of American football American people of Cape Verdean descent 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople