Deshea Townsend
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1975)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Deshea Townsend
| image = Townsend jump.jpg
| caption = Townsend (left) with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007
| number =
| current_team = Detroit Lions
| position = Defensive passing game coordinator & defensive back coach
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1975|9|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Batesville, Mississippi, U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 10
| weight_lb = 190
| high_school = South Panola
(Batesville, Mississippi)
| college = Alabama
| draftyear = 1998
| draftround = 4
| draftpick = 117
| pastteams = * Pittsburgh Steelers ({{NFL Year|1998|2009}})
- Indianapolis Colts ({{NFL Year|2010}})
| pastcoaching = * Arizona Cardinals ({{NFL Year|2011|2012}})
Assistant defensive backs coach
- Mississippi State (2013–2015)
Cornerbacks coach - Tennessee Titans ({{NFL Year|2016|2017}})
Defensive backs coach - New York Giants ({{NFL Year|2018}})
Assistant defensive backs coach - Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|2019|2021}})
Secondary coach - Jacksonville Jaguars ({{NFL Year|2022|2023}})
Passing game coordinator & cornerbacks coach - Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|2024}}–present)
Passing game coordinator & defensive backs coach
| highlights = * 2× Super Bowl champion (XL, XLIII)
| statlabel1 = Total tackles
| statvalue1 = 470
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 15.5
| statlabel3 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue3 = 5
| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4 = 4
| statlabel5 = Interceptions
| statvalue5 = 21
| statlabel6 = Defensive touchdowns
| statvalue6 = 3
| pfr = TownDe20
}}
Trevor Deshea Townsend (born September 8, 1975) is an American professional football coach and former cornerback who currently is the defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously worked as an assistant coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, and Arizona Cardinals.
Townsend played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round (117th overall) in the 1998 NFL draft, where he spent his entire career, besides his final year with the Indianapolis Colts.
Early life
A native of Batesville, Mississippi, Townsend played high school football for the South Panola Tigers, where he was the teammate of fellow future Alabama Crimson Tide star Dwayne Rudd. Townsend played quarterback at South Panola and led the team to the 1993 Mississippi State 5A championship and an undefeated 15–0 record.
Playing career
=College=
Along with Rudd, Townsend continued his career in college at the University of Alabama where both became members of the Theta Delta Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, in 1995. He majored in business management.
He had seven career interceptions at Alabama. In 1995 at Georgia, Townsend returned a blocked field goal attempt 90 yards for a touchdown in a 31–0 win.
=National Football League=
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 5
| height in = 9 1/4
| weight = 179
| dash = 4.59
| ten split = 1.73
| twenty split = 2.75
| shuttle = 3.95
| cone drill = 7.43
| vertical = 38.0
| broad ft = 9
| broad in = 8
| bench = 10
| arm span = 31 3/4
| hand span = 8 3/4
}}
==Pittsburgh Steelers==
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Townsend in the fourth round (117th overall) of the 1998 NFL draft. He was the 14th cornerback drafted in 1998.{{Cite web |title=1998 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1998/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
Image:Townsend tackle 2005.jpg
Townsend grew from a special teams player and nickelback (and initially known in Pittsburgh as the first player to wear Rod Woodson's number 26 after left the Steelers), into a solid starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers at cornerback. Townsend was known for his outside speed as a pass rusher. Townsend has recorded 322 tackles, 15.5 quarterback sacks and 18 interceptions during his twelve years as a Steeler. He also had a key sack on Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck during the final minutes of Super Bowl XL, which helped secure the Steelers eventual victory.
On March 23, 2002, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Townsend to a four-year, $4.20 million contract as an unrestricted free agent that included a signing bonus of $1 million. He visited with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during free agency and his agent was also contacted by the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, and Atlanta Falcons.{{cite web |title=Steelers, Townsend agree to four-year deal |url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/steelers-townsend-agree-to-four-year-deal/ |access-date=April 19, 2020 |website=triblive.com |date=March 23, 2002}}
On March 17, 2006, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Townsend to a four-year, $8 million contract that included a signing bonus of $2 million. He received the contract offer during a visit with the New England Patriots.{{cite web |title=Steelers re-sign Townsend |url=https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/Article/Steelers-re-sign-Townsend-104306216/ |access-date=April 19, 2020 |website=247sports.com |date=March 17, 2006}}
During the 2008 season, Townsend accepted the reduced role from starting cornerback to the nickel package.
==Indianapolis Colts==
In August 2010, Townsend joined the Indianapolis Colts.{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10220/1078522-66.stm|title=Townsend saddles up with Colts|date=August 8, 2010|work=The News-Sentinel|first=Reggie|last=Hayes}} On November 9, 2010, he was waived by the Colts. For the season, Townsend played in eight Colts games with no starts, and totaled 10 tackles and no interceptions or sacks.
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the Super Bowl |
| Bold
| Career high |
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1998 | PIT
| 12 || 0 || 11 || 9 || 2 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | PIT
| 16 || 4 || 38 || 33 || 5 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | PIT
| 16 || 0 || 38 || 28 || 10 || 3.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | PIT
| 16 || 1 || 29 || 24 || 5 || 2.0 || 2 || 7 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | PIT
| 16 || 3 || 47 || 40 || 7 || 0.0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2003 | PIT
| 16 || 8 || 46 || 39 || 7 || 1.0 || 3 || 24 || 1 || 25 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | PIT
| 15 || 15 || 56 || 47 || 9 || 4.0 || 4 || 54 || 1 || 39 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| PIT
| 16 || 15 || 55 || 41 || 14 || 3.0 || 2 || 26 || 0 || 26 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | PIT
| 16 || 12 || 41 || 37 || 4 || 2.0 || 2 || 6 || 0 || 6 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | PIT
| 16 || 16 || 52 || 45 || 7 || 0.0 || 2 || 44 || 0 || 23 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| PIT
| 12 || 4 || 20 || 16 || 4 || 0.0 || 2 || 27 || 1 || 25 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2009 | PIT
| 16 || 2 || 27 || 24 || 3 || 0.0 || 1 || -1 || 0 || -1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2010 | IND
| 8 || 0 || 10 || 9 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 191 | 80 | 470 | 392 | 78 | 15.5 | 21 | 190 | 3 | 39 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
=Playoffs=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 2001 | PIT
| 2 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | PIT
| 2 || 1 || 10 || 9 || 1 || 0.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | PIT
| 2 || 2 || 4 || 2 || 2 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| PIT
| 4 || 4 || 17 || 14 || 3 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | PIT
| 1 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| PIT
| 3 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 1 || 0.0 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 14 | 7 | 41 | 34 | 7 | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Coaching career
=Arizona Cardinals=
On February 10, 2011, Townsend was hired as assistant defensive backs coach of the Arizona Cardinals, joining former coach Ray Horton who was named defensive coordinator.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/126060739|title=Cards tab Horton to run defense|last=Somers|first=Kent|date=February 10, 2011|work=The Arizona Republic|access-date=November 29, 2019}} He was released alongside head coach Ken Whisenhunt at the end of the 2012 season.
=Mississippi State=
In January 2013, Townsend was hired as cornerbacks coach at Mississippi State University.{{Cite web|url=https://al.com/sports/2013/03/former_alabama_star_deshea_tow_1.html|title=Former Alabama star Deshea Townsend brings NFL experience to new job as Mississippi State assistant|last=Herndon|first=Mike|date=2013-03-30|website=al|language=en}} Under his coaching, defensive back Nickoe Whitley recorded 5 interceptions, 2nd-best in the SEC, Jamerson Love ranked 2nd in interception return touchdowns, and Taveze Calhoun ranked 2nd in interception return yards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfbconferences/sec/2013.html|title=2013 Southeastern Conference Year Summary|website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-29}} Whitley would be named All-SEC.
=Tennessee Titans=
On January 26, 2016, Townsend was named the defensive backs coach of the Tennessee Titans, joining his former defensive coordinator when he was a player, Dick LeBeau from the Steelers during 2004–09.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/tennessee-titans/post/_/id/18112|title=Mularkey's Titans staff will feature seven newcomers, eight holdovers|last=Kuharsky|first=Paul|date=2016-01-26|website=ESPN.com|language=en}} Under his coaching, safety Kevin Byard led the NFL in interceptions, make the 2018 Pro Bowl, and was named first-team All-Pro.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nashvillepost.com/sports/tennessee-titans/blog/20989612/two-more-titans-headed-to-pro-bowl|title=Two more Titans headed to Pro Bowl|last=Boclair|first=David|date=January 22, 2018|website=Nashville Post|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/tennessee-titans/post/_/id/24975|title=Kevin Byard receives due respect, named first-team All-Pro|last=Wolfe|first=Cameron|date=2018-01-05|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}
=New York Giants=
On February 6, 2018, Townsend was named the assistant defensive backs coach for the New York Giants.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/new-york-giants-pat-shurmur-coaching-hires-deshea-townsend-ben-wilkerson/cqcjwrh76ocx1jftzdvrjdzvy|title=Giants add two more to revamped coaching staff|last=Marvez|first=Alex|date=February 6, 2018|website=www.sportingnews.com|language=en}} Under his coaching, cornerback Janoris Jenkins ranked 5th in passes defended and safety Landon Collins made the Pro Bowl.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2018/leaders.htm|title=2018 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.giants.com/news/saquon-barkley-landon-collins-and-aldrick-rosas-make-2018-pro-bowl?campaign=sf:fanshare:facebook|title=Saquon Barkley, Landon Collins, and Aldrick Rosas make 2018 Pro Bowl|last=Eisen|first=Michael|date=December 19, 2018|website=www.giants.com|language=en-US}}
=Chicago Bears=
On January 18, 2019, Townsend was named the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears,{{cite news|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-new-coach-deshea-townsend-ronell-williams-chuck-pagano/|title=Bears name former NFL CB Deshea Townsend new defensive backs coach|last=Finley|first=Patrick|date=January 18, 2019|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times}} a position that was eventually renamed to secondary coach.{{cite news|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-matt-nagy-promotes-two-coaches-to-round-out-defensive-staff/|title=Bears' Matt Nagy promotes two coaches to round out defensive staff|last=Finley|first=Patrick|date=February 8, 2019|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times}} Under his coaching, Kyle Fuller made the Pro Bowl.{{cite news|last=Wiederer|first=Dan|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-chicago-bears-khalil-mack-allen-robinson-pro-bowl-20191217-gejj5rt62bdsjnxf3tj4ev4xli-story.html|title=Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson and Cordarrelle Patterson are named to the Pro Bowl and 3 more Bears are announced as alternates|date=December 17, 2019|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}
=Jacksonville Jaguars=
On February 17, 2022, Townsend was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as their passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach under head coach Doug Pederson.{{Cite web|title=Jaguars Finalize 2022 Coaching Staff|url=https://www.jaguars.com/news/jaguars-finalize-2022-coaching-staff|publisher=Jacksonville Jaguars|date=February 17, 2022|access-date=February 17, 2022}} He was let go of his duties and fired on January 8, 2024.{{cite web | url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39268739/jaguars-fire-defensive-coordinator-mike-caldwell-assistants | title=Jags fire defensive coordinator Caldwell, others | date=January 9, 2024 }}
=Detroit Lions=
On February 21, 2024, Townsend was hired by the Detroit Lions as their passing game coordinator and Defensive backs coach under head coach Dan Campbell.{{Cite web|title=Lions add Jim O'Neil, Deshea Townsend and Terrell Williams to coaching staff |url=https://www.detroitlions.com/news/lions-add-jim-o-neil-deshea-townsend-and-terrell-williams-to-coaching-staff|publisher=Detroit Lions|date=February 21, 2024|access-date=February 21, 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons}}
- [https://www.jaguars.com/team/coaches-roster/deshea-townsend Jacksonville Jaguars profile]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20021220195304/http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4346 ESPN.com Deshea Townsend player card]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090125151143/http://thedesheatownsendshow.com/ The Deshea Townsend Show] on KDKA/CW
{{Steelers1998DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XL}}
{{Super Bowl XLIII}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Deshea}}
Category:Alabama Crimson Tide football players
Category:American football cornerbacks
Category:Arizona Cardinals coaches
Category:Chicago Bears coaches
Category:Indianapolis Colts players
Category:Jacksonville Jaguars coaches
Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches
Category:New York Giants coaches
Category:People from Batesville, Mississippi
Category:Sportspeople from Panola County, Mississippi
Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players
Category:Players of American football from Mississippi
Category:Tennessee Titans coaches
Category:African-American coaches of American football
Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen