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Anthony Blevins
Personal information
Born: (1976-07-23) July 23, 1976 (age 47)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school: Pleasant Grove ( Pleasant Grove, Alabama)
College: UAB
Undrafted: 1999
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:

Anthony Blevins (born July 23, 1976) is a former American football player and coach. Blevins played in the original XFL with the Birmingham Thunderbolts [1] and had been a full-time coach in the NFL from 2013 to 2022. [2] [3]

Education

In addition Blevins has a vast array of college degrees from his bachelor's in Sociology, master's degree in Instructional Technology from UAB where he played defensive back, as well as his doctorate in Instructional Systems and Work Force Development from Mississippi State, which he received while serving as a graduate assistant there. [4] [5]

Playing career

After playing college football at UAB, Blevins played professionally for the Mobile Admirals of the Regional Football League, the Birmingham Steeldogs of af2 and the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the original XFL. [6]

Coaching career

College coaching career

Blevins began his career in coaching at Meadowcreek High School in Georgia. He spent 2 years there working as the team's secondary coach while also serving as a community liaison. From 2005- 2007, he served as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State University. [7] In 2008 he coached at the University of Tennessee-Martin working with the team's cornerbacks while also serving as recruiting coordinator. Between 2009 and 2011, Blevins worked at Tennessee State coaching the special teams and cornerbacks. In 2012 Blevins returned to his alma mater as the Blazers' cornerbacks coach.

Arizona Cardinals

From 2013 [3] to 2017, Blevins worked under Bruce Arians as an assistant special teams coach for the Arizona Cardinals.

New York Giants

In 2018, [8] Blevins became a part of Pat Shurmur's staff, where he spent two seasons as the Giants' assistant special teams coach [4] directly under Thomas McGaughey. In 2020 he was retained by Joe Judge who he coached with at Mississippi State [7] and became the team's assistant secondary coach. [9] In 2021 he was named the team's assistant linebackers coach and special teams assistant. He was retained by Brian Daboll and moved to the team's assistant special teams coach.

Vegas Vipers

On July 7, 2023, Blevins was announced as the new head coach of the Vegas Vipers of the XFL, replacing Hall of Famer Rod Woodson who finished the previous season 2–8. [6] Blevins never coached for the Vipers, who cancelled their stadium lease on August 31 [10] and were formally contracted when the XFL merged into the United Football League prior to the start of the 2024 season. [11]

References

  1. ^ "XFLBoard.com -Training Camp Cuts". xflboard.com. 16 January 2001. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  2. ^ "Anthony Blevins | Pro Football History.com". pro-football-history.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  3. ^ a b AL.com, Drew Champlin | (2013-03-23). "Former UAB player, assistant Anthony Blevins getting chance to coach for NFL's Arizona Cardinals". al. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  4. ^ a b "Anthony Blevins joins Giants as assistant special teams coach". SNY. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Duggan, Dan. "Meet 'Doc Blev': How Giants assistant Anthony Blevins..." The Athletic. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "XFL Names Dr. Anthony Blevins Vegas Vipers Head Coach". XFL. July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Joe Judge's Giants staff has college ties, five former head coaches". ESPN.com. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  8. ^ "Roger Kingdom, Anthony Blevins are latest Cardinals coaches to land new jobs". Cards Wire. 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  9. ^ "Report: Anthony Blevins expected to remain with Giants". Giants Wire. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  10. ^ "XFL team on the move after first season in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2023-09-01. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  11. ^ Alexander, Mookie (2023-12-31). "Report: RIP, Seattle Sea Dragons?!". Field Gulls. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
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