Russ Purnell (born June 12, 1948) 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. He has served for 26 seasons as an assistant coach in the NFL, mainly coordinating the

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

units. He is one of only 21 NFL assistant coaches who have won at least one Super Bowl championship with two different teams (

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and Indianapolis). He was also the special teams coordinator for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

of the United Football League (UFL).

Playing career

Purnell played center at Orange Coast College and 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 graduated with a business degree and served as a graduate assistant from 1970–71.

Coaching career

Purnell began his coaching career at

Corona del Mar High School Corona del Mar High School (CdM) is a public school located in the Eastbluff neighborhood of Newport Beach, California, and belongs to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. It is a combination of a middle school (7th and 8th grades) and a ...

in 1972 and coached at

Edison High School (Huntington Beach, California) Edison High School is a public high school located in Huntington Beach, California which first began operation in 1969. It is a part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. Edison is a California Distinguished School. The graduation r ...

from 1973–81. He joined the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

staff as special teams and tight ends coach from 1982–85. Purnell spent four seasons (1995–98) with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers after serving nine seasons (1986–94) with the Seattle Seahawks. With Seattle, he was tight ends/assistant special teams coach in 1987 before taking over the special teams and tight ends in 1992. Purnell spent three seasons with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

as special teams coordinator from 1999–2001. Under Purnell’s leadership, kicker

Matt Stover John Matthew Stover (born January 27, 1968) is a former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. After five seasons for the Cleveland Browns, he was amon ...

made the Pro Bowl in 2000, while kick returner Jermaine Lewis was tabbed for the honor in 2001. Stover connected on 93 of 107 field goals from 1999–2001, an 86.9% conversation rate. Lewis had an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

win against the New York Giants. Punter

Kyle Richardson Kyle Davis Richardson (born March 2, 1973) is a former National Football League (NFL) punter. He played college football at Arkansas State University and went on to have a ten-year professional career. He played for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europ ...

led the NFL in punts inside the 20 in 1999 and 2000. Baltimore led the NFL with a 14.8-yard punt return average in 2000, while Lewis (36-16.1 avg.) had the highest seasonal average for any player with 30-plus returns in NFL history and had two returns for touchdowns against the New York Jets. Purnell served as special teams coach for the Indianapolis Colts under

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

from 2002–08. Under Purnell’s guidance, kicker

Mike Vanderjagt Michael John Vanderjagt ( ; born March 24, 1970) is a Canadian former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Colts' placekicker from 1998 to ...

(217/248, 87.5 pct.) became the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, and he set the NFL record with 42 consecutive field goals from 2002–04. In hitting all 37 field goal attempts in 2003, Vanderjagt posted only the fourth perfect season in NFL history, while earning his first Pro Bowl bid. Vanderjagt earned the Pro Football Weekly Golden Toe Award, the third time in Purnell’s career he tutored the award’s winner (

Rick Tuten Richard Lamar Tuten (January 5, 1965 – June 13, 2017) was an American football punter in the National Football League who played most of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. He punted the ball 108 times in 1992, tied for fourth-most in a seas ...

, Seattle, 1994; Stover, Baltimore, 2000). The Colts kickoff return unit ranked 8th in the NFL in 2004 and in 2005 the team’s coverage units ranked 5th in kickoff return average and seventh in punt return average. In 2006, Colts kicker

Adam Vinatieri Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Considered one of the greatest ...

hit 25 of 28 field goals and all 38 PATs for 113 points as the team's field goal percentage ranked in the top five in the NFL.

Terrence Wilkins Terrence Olondo Wilkins (born July 29, 1975) is a former American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Indianapolis Colts. He also played with St. Louis Rams, and was a preseason member of the Miami Dolphins in 2004 and also play ...

served as the punt and kick returner for the Colts in 2006 and turned in an 82-yard punt return. In 2007, T. J. Rushing tied the franchise record with a 90-yard punt return touchdown. In 2008, Vinatieri connected on 20 of 25 field goals and produced a 13th consecutive 100-plus point season. Punter Hunter Smith recorded 23 punts inside the 20 out of his 53 punts. Purnell joined 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. ...

on May 5, 2015, as assistant special teams coordinator when special teams coordinator Bruce DeHaven took a leave of absence. In the 2015 season, Purnell 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 2016 season, Purnell announced his retirement from coaching.

Special teams Pro Bowlers coached

—1994 *

John Henry Mills John Henry Mills (born October 31, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back, linebacker and tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Viking ...

—1996 *

Craig Hentrich Craig Hentrich (; born May 18, 1971) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He played college football for Notre Dame. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL ...

—1998 *

—2000 * Jermaine Lewis—2001 *

—2003 *

Montell Owens Montell Ernest Owens (born May 4, 1984) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Maine. Owens was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He has also played for the Detroit Lions and Ch ...

—2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purnell, Russ 1948 births Living people Baltimore Ravens coaches Houston Oilers coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Omaha Nighthawks coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Tennessee Titans coaches USC Trojans football coaches Whittier Poets football coaches Whittier Poets football players Sportspeople from Chicago Players of American football from Chicago