 Jeffcoat after the2012 Military Bowl | |||||||||||
| No. 77 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1961-04-01)April 1, 1961 (age 64) Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 274 lb (124 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Matawan Regional(Aberdeen Township, New Jersey) | ||||||||||
| College | Arizona State | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1983: 1st round, 23rd overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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James Wilson Jeffcoat Jr. (born April 1, 1961) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive end in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys andBuffalo Bills. He playedcollege football for theArizona State Sun Devils. He won twoSuper Bowls with the Cowboys. After his playing career, he became a coach. He is the father of former NFL player and 2013Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year,Jackson Jeffcoat.
Jeffcoat grew up inMatawan, New Jersey, and attendedMatawan Regional High School.[1] As a senior defensive tackle, he earned high school footballAll-American honors. He also lettered inwrestling.
The school retired his jersey (#79).
Jeffcoat accepted a football scholarship fromArizona State University. As a sophomore in 1980, he earned the starter job atnose guard.
As a junior in 1981, he was named the starter at left defensive end, leading the team with 10 sacks and contributing to the defense leading the Pac-10 in rushing defense (121.1 yards per game). He received honorable-mentionAll-Pac-10 honors.
As a senior in 1982, he became the catalyst of the Sun Devils' No. 1 ranked defense (228.9 yards per game). He collected 95 tackles, four sacks, four pass deflections, and forced twofumbles during his senior season, where he earned All-Pac-10, honorable-mention to theAll-AmericanAssociated Press,United Press International andSporting News teams. He had 13 tackles, one sack and 2 pass deflections against theUniversity of Houston. He made 12 tackles againstUSC andOregon State University. He had a dominating performance in the1983 Fiesta Bowl, posting 16 tackles, one safety and one forced fumble, while earning outstanding defensive player honors in a 32–21 win over theUniversity of Oklahoma. He finished his college career with 20 sacks. He also played in theEast–West Shrine Game and in theSenior Bowl.
On October 22, 1994, he was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame, as arguably one of the greatestdefensive linemen to wear a Sun Devil uniform. In 2012, he was inducted into the Arizona State Football Ring of Honor. In 1991, he was inducted into theFiesta Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was named to the Pac-12 Conference's All-Century team as one of the five defensive ends.
Jeffcoat was selected in the first round (23rd overall) of the1983 NFL draft by theDallas Cowboys. He was also selected by theArizona Wranglers in the1983 USFL territorial draft. He was a backupdefensive end as a rookie.
In1984, he replacedHarvey Martin at the right defensive end position, registering 82 tackles to go along with 11.5 sacks, ranking second on the team and in the top 15 among sack league leaders.
In1985, he was second on the team with 12 sacks and in the top ten among league leaders. His most memorable game was against theWashington Redskins on November 10,1985, when he tallied 11 tackles and sackedquarterbackJoe Theismann a franchise record 5 times, tyingBob Lilly’s 19-year-old mark. Against theNew York Giants, he intercepted aPhil Simms pass that was batted down byEd "Too Tall" Jones and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown, making a critical play in a win that helped clinch theNFC East title.[2] In1986, he led the team with a career-high 14 sacks (seventh among league leaders).
Jeffcoat maintained a high level of play through the Cowboys' difficult years of the late '80s. His best season came in1989, when he finished with a career-high 100 tackles, a career-high 42 quarterback pressures, 11.5 sacks (led team and top 12 among league leaders) and a career-high threefumble recoveries.
During the1992 season his role was reduced to a situational pass-rusher, afterTony Tolbert took over the left defensive end position and the team traded forCharles Haley to make him the right defensive end. Even with fewer opportunities, he managed to lead the team with 10.5 sacks (top 15 among league leaders) and six tackles for loss, during the team's drive towards winningSuper Bowl XXVII. His repertoire of pass rushing moves and effort, allowed him to remain an effective player through the1994 season, while playing mostly on passing situations.
Jeffcoat left viafree agency in1995, after playing 12 seasons and never missing a game with the Cowboys. He finished with 698 tackles, 94.5 sacks and 149 quarterback pressures. He also accomplished five seasons with 70 or more tackles and five seasons with 10 or more sacks, leaving as the franchise official career sack leader (theNFL didn't start recognizing quarterback sacks as a stat until1982).
On February 22,1995, he was signed as afree agent by theBuffalo Bills.[3] He had a streak of 224 consecutive games played, before being sidelined on September 21 and eventually being placed on theinjured reserve list on December 12,1997.[4]
Jeffcoat retired after playing 15 seasons, with 102.5 sacks, 745 tackles, 194 quarterback pressures, 2 interceptions, 11fumble recoveries and 2touchdowns. At the time he ranked among theNFL's top-15 career leaders in sacks and his 227 games, placed him among the top 30 players inNFL history in games played. He was nominated for thePro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2008 although he was never selected to aPro Bowl.
After his retirement in 1997, he spent seven seasons (1998–2005) as the Cowboys'defensive ends assistant coach. Jeffcoat spent his last five seasons in the organization as the defensive ends coach after two years as the club's assistant defensive line coach. He was let go on January 28, 2005.[5]
On January 28, 2008, Jeffcoat was hired to joinKevin Sumlin's staff at theUniversity of Houston as the defensive line assistant coach.[6] Prior to arriving in Houston, Jeffcoat was in private business in the Dallas area for two years.
From 2011 to 2012, Jeffcoat coached theSan Jose State defensive line under head coachMike MacIntyre, where he coached Western Athletic Conference player of the yearTravis Johnson.
In January 2013, he joined theUniversity of Colorado Buffaloes as the defensive line coach, following the recently hired MacIntyre. He was let go after the 2017 season.[7]
In November 2018, Jeffcoat was hired bySteve Spurrier as defensive line coach for theOrlando Apollos of theAlliance of American Football.[8] He coached with the team in 7 games, until the league ceased operations in April 2019.[9]
In June 2019, Jeffcoat was hired byBob Stoops as defensive line coach for theDallas Renegades of the newXFL.[10] In March, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, the league announced that it would be cancelling the rest of the season.[11] On April 10, he had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations.[12]