| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1962-09-07)September 7, 1962 (age 63) Cramerton, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | South Point (NC) |
| College | Lenoir-Rhyne |
| NFL draft | 1985: undrafted |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | 3–8 (.273) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
Perry Fewell (born September 7, 1962) is an Americanfootball coach. He currently serves as the senior vice president of officiating administration for theNational Football League (NFL)'s officiating department. Previously, he served as the defensive backs coach or defensive coordinator for eight NFL teams between 1998 and 2019. He also served as the interimhead coach for theBuffalo Bills in 2009 and for theCarolina Panthers in 2019. Fewell wonSuper Bowl XLVI as the defensive coordinator of theNew York Giants, a position he held for five seasons.
Fewell attendedSouth Point High School inBelmont, North Carolina.[1] In 1979, he helped lead the school to a 3-A state football championship.
Fewell attendedLenoir-Rhyne College and was a football standout. In football, he was a four-yearletterman. As a senior, he was named the team's Most Improved Player.
Fewell was a college coach for 13 years (1985–1997), working as an assistant at North Carolina, Army, Kent State, and Vanderbilt.[2]
Fewell entered the NFL as the defensive backs coach forTom Coughlin in 1998 and stayed there through 2002. Jacksonville's pass defense ranked third in the NFL in 1999 and two years later the Jaguars gave up only 13 touchdown passes.[2]
In 2003, Fewell moved to St. Louis, where he was the secondary coach of the Rams.
Fewell was a defensive backs coach with Chicago from 2004 to 2005 under head coachLovie Smith.
Fewell was hired as defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2006. In what was statistically their best season under Fewell, the 2008 Bills defense ranked 2nd in the AFC in negative yardage plays, recorded 7 games of holding opposing offenses to less than 100 yards rushing, finished 4th in the NFL in red zone defense (41.8%), and allowed just 14 passing touchdowns all year.[3]
In Week 10 of the2009 season, the Bills fired head coachDick Jauron after a 3–6 start and Fewell was appointed interim head coach. He led Buffalo to a 3–4 finish. Following the season finale, the Bills fired their entire coaching staff, including Fewell.
On January 14, 2010, Fewell was hired as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.[2] Fewell served under head coachTom Coughlin, under whom Fewell previously worked during his time with theJacksonville Jaguars. On February 5, 2012, the Giants defeated theNew England Patriots 21–17 to winSuper Bowl XLVI. Under his leadership, the Giants defense was often criticized for being "off and soft", allowing other teams to come back into games they should not have been able to. On January 7, 2015, the Giants and Fewell parted ways after he spent five years in charge of the defense.[4]
Fewell served as defensive backs coach for the Washington Redskins for two seasons.
AfterTom Coughlin returned to theJacksonville Jaguars as the executive vice president of football operations, Fewell was brought in to act as the defensive backs coach onDoug Marrone's staff.[5]
Fewell was named the secondary coach of the Carolina Panthers on January 15, 2019.[6] He was named interim head coach on December 3, 2019, following the dismissal ofRon Rivera.[7] The team lost all four games with Fewell acting as Head Coach.
In 2020, Fewell joined the NFL's officiating department as senior vice president of officiating administration.[8]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BUF* | 2009 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 4th in AFC East | — | — | — | — |
| BUF Total | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| CAR* | 2019 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 4th in NFC South | — | — | — | — |
| CAR total | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| Total | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
* – Interim head coach