Reginald Wayne Herring (born July 3, 1959) 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 player and most recently the linebackers coach for 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 ...

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). A 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, ...

at Florida State University, he began his coaching career in 1981. He has now coached for 36 years across college and the NFL. Herring arrived in Denver to coach linebackers in 2015 after previous stops in the league with Chicago (2014), Houston (2002–03, ’11-13) and Dallas (2008–10). Herring has coached nine linebackers who have made Pro Bowl appearances during their careers, including outside linebackers

DeMarcus Ware DeMarcus Omar Ware (born July 31, 1982) is an American former football outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Troy University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the 11th overall pick in th ...

(9),

Mario Williams Mario Jerrel Williams (born January 31, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for North Carolina State University, and was selected first overall by the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft. A four-time ...

(4), and

Connor Barwin Connor Alfred Barwin (born October 15, 1986) is an American football executive and former outside linebacker, currently serving as the director of player development for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Cincinnati, and was ...

(1), and inside linebackers

Zach Thomas Zachary Michael Thomas (born September 1, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Texas Tech University, and was ...

(7), Keith Brooking (5),

Lance Briggs Lance Marell Briggs (born November 12, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats and was select ...

(7),

Brian Cushing Brian Patrick Cushing (born January 24, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and played his entire 9-year career for the ...

(1),

Sean Lee Sean Patrick Lee (born July 22, 1986) is a former American football linebacker. He played his entire 11-year professional career with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Penn State, and was selected by the Cowboys in the second ...

(2) and DeMeco Ryans (2). Herring also served as the interim head football coach for the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic.

College career

Herring played at Florida State University from 1978 to 1980, earning his

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 criminology. As a player, he was a three-year starting linebacker, leading the team in tackles for three consecutive years. His 452 total tackles in his career ranks him third all-time for tackles in Florida State history and his 170 tackles during his 1980 senior season also ranks him third on the single-season tackle list. During his career with the Florida State Seminoles, he played in two Orange Bowls and one Tangerine Bowl, serving as team captain for the 1980 team that made it to the Orange Bowl. His final two years at FSU, the Seminoles finished 11–1 and 10–2 and ranked in the top 10 in the final AP poll. In 1989, Herring was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Early career

Herring first served as a graduate assistant coach at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in 1981 under head coach Jimmy Johnson. After one year, Johnson promoted Herring to coach OSU's linebackers, a position that he would hold until 1985. During this time, Herring worked with quarterbacks coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (19 ...

, under whom Herring would later serve as defensive coordinator at the

. In 1986, Herring left OSU to coach linebackers at Auburn University under head coach

Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...

. At Auburn, Herring helped lead the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

to three consecutive SEC titles from 1987 to 1989. In 1992, Herring was offered his first defensive coordinator position, though he continued to coach linebackers, at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

. After two years at TCU, Herring left to coach linebackers at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

. Herring was promoted to defensive coordinator for the

for the 1997 season, and held that position through the 2001 season. The Tigers made six bowl appearances during that stretch as seven of Herring’s linebackers were selected in the NFL Draft. In 2002, Herring accepted a position in the NFL with the Houston Texans to coach linebackers, after having been on the job as defensive coordinator at Ole Miss for less than a month. Although Herring only held the Texans position for two years, he coached the 2003 league-leader in tackles,

Jamie Sharper Harry James Sharper Jr. (born November 23, 1974) is a former American football linebacker and coach who is currently the Linebackers coach for the DC Defenders of the XFL. Sharper played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, a ...

. In 2004, Herring left the NFL to become defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at North Carolina State University. In his first year at North Carolina State, the Wolfpack defense led the nation in total defense after ranking 89th in that category the year prior.

Arkansas

In 2005, Herring left North Carolina State for a defensive coordinator position with

at the

. At Arkansas, Herring improved the Razorback defense in almost every statistical category. In the 2006 season, Herring led a defense ranked 44th out of 119

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

FBS teams. For his performance in the 2006 season, Herring was a finalist for the

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

, given annually the nation's top assistant coach in college football. On November 26, 2007, after

was forced to resign, Herring was announced as the interim coach of the Razorbacks for the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. The 24th-

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

Razorbacks lost the game 38–7 to 7th-ranked

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. He had said about the Capital One Bowl that his team needed to "...punch Mickey Mouse in the mouth."

Texas A&M

On January 4, 2008, Herring was named the defensive coordinator at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

by head coach

Mike Sherman Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green B ...

. Herring took part in the Aggies' 2008 recruiting, and resigned after

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

to return to the NFL and become the linebackers coach at the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

Dallas Cowboys

Herring was hired by the

on February 8, 2008. He worked as the team's linebacker position coach under head coach

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

. With the help of his tutelage, the Cowboys led the NFL in quarterback sacks (59) during the 2008 season. As linebackers coach for Dallas from 2008–10, Herring helped outside linebacker

deliver the most productive three-season stretch of his career.

Houston Texans

Herring joined new Houston Texans defensive coordinator

in January 2011. Herring coached in his second stint with the Texans from 2011-13. He was part of a staff that helped turn the league’s 30th-ranked defensive unit into a group that ranked fourth overall (308.8 ypg) during his three years with the club.

Chicago Bears

Herring joined

Marc Trestman Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coac ...

's coaching staff as Chicago Bears linebackers coach on January 22, 2014. However, he was released by the team on January 20, 2015.

Denver Broncos

Herring joined

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 ...

's coaching staff as

linebackers coach on January 26, 2015. Herring helped Denver’s defensive transition to a 3-4 alignment in 2015. On February 7, 2016, Herring was part of the Broncos coaching staff that won

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 ...

. In the game, the Broncos defeated 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. ...

by a score of 24–10. Coaching Denver’s inside linebackers for the last three seasons, Herring helped lead a defense that allowed a league-low 296.4 yards per game during that span.

Personal life

Herring is married to the former Lisa Ward of

Griffin, Georgia Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,478. Griffin was founded in 1840 and named for landowner Col. Lewis Law ...

. The couple has a daughter, Caroline, and a son, Adam, who is a former linebacker on the Auburn football team and now coaches at

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herring, Reggie 1959 births Living people American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches Chicago Bears coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Denver Broncos coaches Florida State Seminoles football players Houston Texans coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches People from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina TCU Horned Frogs football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches