James Augustine Skipper (born January 23, 1949) 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 ...

coach who was best known for being the

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

s 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. ...

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 majo ...

(NFL) for 15 years (over two separate stretches). He was also the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

for 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 divisio ...

for three years, starting in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Early years

A native of

Brawley, California Brawley (formerly, Braly) is a city in the Imperial Valley and within Imperial County, southern California, United States. The population was 24,953 at the 2010 census, up from 22,052 in 2000. The town has a significant cattle and feed indust ...

, Skipper was an all-conference selection at Imperial Valley College, where he led the league in kickoff returns. He then transferred to

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

, where he played defensive back and he paced the conference in punt returns during his career. Skipper holds a B.A. degree in physical education from Whittier.

Coaching career

Skipper began his coaching career at

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

, where he coached the defensive backs from 1974-1976. After coaching the defensive backs for two seasons at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) ...

, Skipper moved to the offensive side of the ball, coaching the running backs at University of the Pacific in 1979. He then went on to coach the running backs at

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

from 1980-1982 before he made the jump to the professional ranks. Skipper started his professional coaching career with the

Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant t ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

from 1983-1985. He then moved on to the

with 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 ...

. Starting in 1986, Skipper served as the running back coach till 1995. During his 10-year tenure with New Orleans, Skipper coached two

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 ...

ers, Rueben Mayes in 1986 and 1987 and Dalton Hilliard in 1989. Mayes' 1,353 yards in 1986 and Hilliard's 1,262 in 1989 still stand among the 10 highest single-season rushing totals in Saints history. He became the running backs coach for the

since 2002. In 2009, Skipper helped make NFL history as two of his running backs, DeAngelo Williams and

Jonathan Stewart Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft ...

, became the first set of teammates ever to rush for over 1,100 yards in the same season. He was announced as the running backs coach for 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 ...

on February 18, 2011. He returned to the

coaching staff in 2013, coaching running backs. In the 2015 season, Skipper and the Panthers reached

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

on February 7, 2016. The Panthers fell to 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 ...

by a score of 24–10. After the 2018 season, Skipper announced his retirement from coaching.

Personal

He has two sons, who are also football coaches: Tim Skipper, currently the linebackers coach at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and Kelly Skipper, currently the running backs 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 ...

Head coaching record

XFL

Pro Bowl running backs under Jim Skipper

* Rueben Mayes- 1986 & 1987 * Dalton Hilliard- 1989 *

Larry Centers Larry Eugene Centers (born June 1, 1968) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, mostly for his first-team, the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1990–1998). Centers then played for the Washington ...

- 1996 * Stephen Davis- 2003 * DeAngelo Williams- 2009 *

Mike Tolbert William Michael Tolbert (born November 23, 1985) is a former American football fullback. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football for Coastal Carolina University. He has also been a ...

- 2013, 2015 & 2016 *

- 2015

1,000 yard rushers under Jim Skipper

* Rueben Mayes- 1986 * Dalton Hilliard- 1989 * Gary Brown- 1998 *

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virgi ...

- 2000 * Stephen Davis- 2003 * DeAngelo Williams- 2008 *

- 2009 * DeAngelo Williams- 2009 * Chris Johnson- 2011 & 2012 *

Christian McCaffrey Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers eighth overa ...

- 2018

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skipper, Jim 1949 births Living people American football defensive backs Carolina Panthers coaches New Orleans Saints coaches New York Giants coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Sportspeople from Southern California United States Football League coaches San Francisco Demons coaches Whittier Poets football players People from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana People from Brawley, California Players of American football from California Players of American football from Louisiana Tennessee Titans coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches Cal Poly Pomona Broncos football coaches