John Fox

John Fox (born February 8, 1955) is an American football coach and former player who previously was a senior defensive assistant for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL).

Fox played football at Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California under local celebrated coaches Gil Warren and Reldon "Bing" Dawson, and Southwestern College also in Chula Vista from 1974 to 1975, before going to San Diego State, where he played defensive back with future NFL player and head coach Herman Edwards.

Fox received a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned teaching credentials from San Diego State.

He then proceeded to the NFL as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After that contract was over he retired from the NFL.

Fox was defensive backs coach at U.S. International University.

Sid Gillman, past head coach of the San Diego Chargers, was the athletic director at the time.

In 1980, Fox was the defensive backs coach for the Boise State University Broncos when they won the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.

In 1983, Fox was a member of Mike Gottfried's University of Kansas staff, as the secondary coach.

Fox began his first professional football coaching stint in the short-lived United States Football League with the Los Angeles Express in 1985.

Fox followed Gottfried to the University of Pittsburgh when Gottfried became Head Coach at Pitt in 1986.

Fox was first the Defensive Backs coach and then was promoted to Defensive Coordinator by Gottfried.

While at Pitt, Fox made some contacts with Pittsburgh Steeler coaches and when Gottfried was let go by Pitt, Fox got his first NFL coaching gig with the Steelers.

He entered the NFL in 1989 as the secondary coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, later also holding this job with the San Diego Chargers.

Fox was the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Raiders and later that of the New York Giants during Super Bowl XXXV, which they lost.

He was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers (2002–2010), Denver Broncos (2011–2014) and Chicago Bears (2015–2017) of the National Football League (NFL).

He coached the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Broncos to Super Bowl XLVIII.

On January 25, 2002, Fox was signed as the third head coach of the Carolina Panthers, whose previous coach George Seifert had led the team to a disastrous 1-15 record in 2001, including 15 consecutive losses to end the season.

Fox's first regular season game was a 10–7 victory over the Baltimore Ravens which ended the Panthers' 15-game losing streak dating to the previous season.

Fox and the Panthers posted a 7–9 record for the 2002 season (his first with the team), demonstrating a drastic improvement over the previous season.

In the 2003 season Fox led the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII, losing 32–29 to the New England Patriots on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

Fox joined Vince Lombardi as the only other coach to inherit a team that had won only one game in the season prior, and then take that team to an NFL Championship game.

Fox also took the Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship game in the 2005 season, but they were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks.

The 2006 season was disappointing for Fox and the Panthers, as a team that had Super Bowl aspirations finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

The 2007 season saw the team finish with a record of 7–9, before finishing with a 12–4 record in the 2008 season, again heading to the playoffs in which they were beaten by the Arizona Cardinals.

The 2009 season was disappointing to Fox and the Panthers much like 2006.

The Panthers finished the season 8-8 and in third place in the NFC South division, missing the playoffs again.

The 2010 season saw the Panthers finish last in the league, at 2–14.

As of this time, Fox was one of only two coaches, and the only one as a head coach, still working on the NFL sidelines that was once a member of former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll's coaching staff, the other being Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach George Stewart.

Tom Moore, currently an offensive consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is still active in the league but works from home.

On December 31, 2010, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced that he would not be renewing Fox's contract at the conclusion of the 2010 season.

On January 13, 2011, Fox was selected to be the 14th head coach of the Denver Broncos.

He was signed to a 4-year $14 million deal.

He was chosen by the Broncos out of a list of five possible head coach candidates that included Broncos interim head coach and running backs coach Eric Studesville, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, Houston Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

Fox was chosen based on his previous head coaching experience plus his 20+ years as an NFL coach.

At the conclusion of the 2011 season, the Broncos finished tied for 3rd in the NFL in sacks and 1st in rushing offense, again with Fox.

In April 2012, Fox received a three-year contract extension worth between $5 million and $6 million per year, replacing his contract that expired at the end of the 2014 NFL season.

In week two of the 2012 season, Fox was fined $30,000 for chiding the replacement officials.

The Broncos would go on to win their last 11 games after a 2–3 start.

In week 17 of the 2012 season, Fox won his 100th career game as an NFL head coach, including the playoffs, beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38–3.