James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) 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

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, ...

who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founde ...

of 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 ...

. He played college football for the

IUP Crimson Hawks The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks, commonly known as the IUP Crimson Hawks and formerly called the IUP Indians, are the varsity athletic teams that represent Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is located in Indiana, Penns ...

before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the

1979 NFL Draft The 1979 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astori ...

; he went on to be named

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

. Haslett's coaching career began in the late 1980s, with him rejoining the NFL by the mid 1990s. In 2000, he was hired as

of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and was named the

NFL Coach of the Year The National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disp ...

. He has also served as head coach for the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

of the United Football League.

Playing career

Haslett attended

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...

, and was selected in the second round of the

by the Buffalo Bills. He was a

for the Buffalo Bills through 1985; he broke his leg during a 1986 preseason contest, ending his time with the Bills. He made a brief comeback with the New York Jets in 1987. He was named the

for 1979. In a 2005 article in the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

'', Haslett admitted to using steroids while playing for the Buffalo Bills. Haslett went on record saying that "everybody tried it" to gain a competitive advantage against opposing teams.

Coaching career

University at Buffalo

Haslett's first coaching position was as an assistant coach at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

from 1988 to 1990. He is the second assistant coach of the Buffalo Bulls to move and become a head coach in the NFL. The first was

Buddy Ryan James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the ...

NFL assistant coaching positions

Haslett began his NFL coaching career as a linebackers coach for the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in 1993. Haslett next coached linebackers for the

in 1995 and was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 1996 season. Haslett then coordinated the Pittsburgh Steelers defense for the 1997 through 1999 seasons.

New Orleans Saints

In January 2000, Haslett was named head coach of the

. That season, he guided the Saints to a 10–6 regular-season record, their second

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Ang ...

division championship, and the first playoff victory in franchise history (defeating 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 ...

; they lost to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

the next week). As a result of the Saints' turnaround from their previous 3–13 season (under his predecessor,

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

), Haslett was named

. This was the only playoff appearance in Haslett's six years in New Orleans. They would only notch one other winning record in 2002. That year, the Saints started 9-4, but three consecutive losses, including to the 1-14 Cincinnati Bengals, resulted in them missing the playoffs by a single game. In 2005, the Saints crashed to a 3–13 record. The season was marred by Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans. This forced the franchise to temporarily relocate to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, playing three of their 'home' games in the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 mil ...

. Another four home games were played in Baton Rouge at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

's Tiger Stadium, and one took place at Giants Stadium in New Jersey (against the New York Giants). Haslett was fired after the close of the 2005 season and replaced by Sean Payton.

St. Louis Rams

Haslett became the

' defensive coordinator to start the 2006 season. On September 29, 2008 Haslett was named the interim head coach of the Rams after

Scott Linehan Scott Thomas Linehan (born September 17, 1963) is an American football coach who currently works as an offensive analyst for Missouri. He was most recently the passing game coordinator for LSU. He was previously the head coach of the St. Louis ...

was fired. The Rams gave Haslett an interim coach's contract, containing a clause that promised him the permanent head coach's job if the team won at least six games that season. Within a few weeks, this clause was nullified by the NFL, because it violated the league's "

Rooney Rule The Rooney Rule is a National Football League policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. It is an example of affirmative action, even though before 2022 there wa ...

". He won his first game as interim head coach of the Rams with a 19-17 victory over the 4-1

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. That win was followed by a 34-14 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys on October 19, 2008. This brought the Rams to a 2-4 record. The team would lose their final 10 games, leaving Haslett with an interim record of 2-10 on the year. On January 15, 2009, the Rams announced that Haslett was no longer in consideration for the permanent head coaching position and that the team would be going in a "new direction".

Florida Tuskers

Haslett coached the

of the United Football League during its inaugural season in 2009. The team went 6-0 but were upset in the first-ever UFL Championship Game by the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

. He won UFL Coach of Year in their inaugural season.

Washington Redskins

Haslett was hired as the

defensive coordinator on January 12, 2010 under head coach

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 ...

. Haslett replaced the retiring

Greg Blache Greg Blache (born March 9, 1949) is an American retired professional football coach, most recently the defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins. He served as Defensive Coordinator-Defensive Line 2004 through 2007 for the Redskins, follow ...

. After many speculated he would be fired after the disastrous 2013 season, new head coach

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...

announced Haslett would remain on the team for the upcoming 2014 season. On December 31, 2014, the Redskins announced that Haslett would leave the Redskins by mutual agreement.

Cincinnati Bengals

On January 15, 2016, he was hired as linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. Following the

2018 NFL Season The 2018 NFL season was the 99th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 53rd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 6, 2018, with the NFL Kickoff Game with defending Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia defeating ...

, the Bengals fired Haslett along with head coach Marvin Lewis.

Tennessee Titans

On February 6, 2020,

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 ...

head coach

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel (; born August 14, 1975) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned con ...

hired Haslett as the team's Inside linebackers coach. He was not retained after the 2021 season.

XFL

Haslett was announced as a XFL Head Coach in 2021, later revealed for the Seattle Dragons

Head coaching record

*''Interim head coach''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haslett, Jim 1955 births Living people American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Buffalo Bulls football coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Florida Tuskers coaches IUP Crimson Hawks football players Los Angeles Raiders coaches National Football League defensive coordinators National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winners National Football League replacement players New Orleans Saints coaches New Orleans Saints head coaches New York Jets players Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Players of American football from Pittsburgh Sacramento Surge coaches Sportspeople from Pittsburgh St. Louis Rams coaches St. Louis Rams head coaches Tennessee Titans coaches United Football League (2009–2012) head coaches Washington Redskins coaches