Kirk Olivadotti (born January 1, 1974) 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 who is the inside linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers 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).

Early life

Kirk Olivadotti was born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

to Karen and Tom Olivadotti. Now retired, Tom spent 40 years coaching football at the high school, college, and professional levels, the latter consisting of 21 years as a defensive coach for NFL teams such as the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

(1985–1986), 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 ...

(1987–1995), 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 ...

(1996–1999), the New York Giants (2000–2003), and the Houston Texans (2004–2005). Kirk attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1988 to 1992, where he played wide receiver on the school's football team. He then went on to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

where he received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Education, followed by a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Education Administration. While at Purdue, Olivadotti played as wide receiver and was a four-year letter winner from 1993 to 1996.

Coaching

Olivadotti began his coaching career at the college level, working with the

Maine Maritime Academy Maine Maritime Academy (Maine Maritime or MMA) is a public college focused on maritime training and located in Castine, Maine. The academy was established by the 90th Maine Legislature on March 21, 1941. Unlike federal service academies, a congr ...

's wide receivers and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s in 1997. He then spent two seasons (1998–1999) working as an

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

at Indiana State University. In 2000, Olivadotti began coaching the Washington Redskins' defense. His time with the team would last for eleven seasons, making him the longest-tenured coach on the Redskins' staff at the time of his leave. He worked in various positions, including defensive backs coach, defensive backs assistant (2000–2003), defensive quality control (2000–2003; 2004–2005), special teams assistant (2004–2006), defensive line coach, defensive line (2006), linebackers coach (2007–2009), and defensive assistant (2010). While working as a linebackers coach, Olivadotti tutored two linebackers, London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo, to their first Pro Bowl, the all-star game of the

. In February 2011, Olivadotti was hired by University of Georgia coach Mark Richt to be the Georgia Bulldogs, Bulldogs' new linebackers coach. He filled the spot vacated by Warren Belin when he left for the Carolina Panthers. Olivadotti's father, Tom, had previously coached with University of Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham for the Houston Texans. On January 16, 2014, it was announced that Olivadotti had rejoined the Redskin's staff to become their linebacker coach. On January 24, 2019, Olivadotti was hired as the inside linebackers coach of the Green Bay Packers.

Personal life

Olivadotti married Keely Carter from West Lafayette, Indiana in February 2001. They have two children. The family lived in Ashburn, Virginia while Olivadotti coached the Washington Redskins, However, during his appointment to the Georgia Bulldogs, Olivadotti and his family moved to Athens, Georgia.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivadotti, Kirk 1974 births Living people American football wide receivers Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Indiana State Sycamores football coaches Maine Maritime Mariners football coaches Players of American football from Delaware Purdue Boilermakers football players Sportspeople from Wilmington, Delaware Washington Redskins coaches People from Ashburn, Virginia St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni