| Dallas Cowboys | |
|---|---|
| Title | Special teams coordinator |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1978-07-31)July 31, 1978 (age 47) Santa Clara, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | George C. Marshall(Falls Church, Virginia) |
| College | Virginia Tech |
| NFL draft | 2001: undrafted |
| Position | Defensive back, No. 41, 27 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Coaching | |
| |
Stats atPro Football Reference  | |
Nicholas Carl Sorensen (born July 31, 1978) is an American professionalfootball coach and formersafety who is currently the special teams coordinator for theDallas Cowboys of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theVirginia Tech Hokies.
Sorensen signed with theMiami Dolphins as anundrafted free agent in 2001 and played for 10 seasons in the NFL with theSt. Louis Rams,Jacksonville Jaguars andCleveland Browns before retiring. Sorensen joined theSeattle Seahawks as their assistant special teams coach in 2013 and coached their secondary from 2017 to 2020. Sorensen also served as the special teams coordinator for theJacksonville Jaguars in 2021 before joining theSan Francisco 49ers as a defensive assistant in 2022 and served as the defensive pass game specialist & nickels coach in 2023 before being named their defensive coordinator in 2024.
Sorensen lived inVienna,Virginia and attendedGeorge C. Marshall High School. He lettered three seasons each, infootball, basketball, and baseball.
He threw for 1,925 yards and 23 touchdowns during his football career and rushed for 604 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Sorensen was inducted into the George C. Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame, which includes otherNFL playersKeith Lyle andMike McCrary.
Sorensen was a four-yearletterman for theVirginia Tech Hokies andstarted at safety andlinebacker during his final two seasons where he posted 117 tackles, 10 tackles for losses, four sacks and an interception.
In 1997, as a redshirt freshman, he earned the backupquarterback position behind Al Clark. He finished the season completing 11 of his 21 passing attempts for 140 yards, 13 carries for 89 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. At 19 years, 3 months of age, Sorensen made a mid-season start replacing the injured Clark against theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, going making 11 of 21 passes including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Gildersleeve. Sorensen was named Virginia Tech's Player of the Game in the1998 Gator Bowl loss toNorth Carolina.[1]
In 1998, he was converted into afree safety. He participated in 13 plays on defense and 19 on special teams in the season-opener againstEast Carolina University, which included completing a 13-yard pass on a successful fake punt for a first down. He appeared in 25 defensive plays against theUniversity of Miami and ran the option on a successful fake punt. He was moved back to quarterback for the fourth game against theUniversity of Pittsburgh to replace injured backup quarterback Dave Meyer. He started 3 games at quarterback againstBoston College,Temple University and theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, making 31 of 59 attempts for 306 yards and 2 passing touchdowns.
In 1999, he moved full-time to the defensive side as the starter atfree safety. The starting quarterback was talented freshmanMichael Vick, who led the Hokies to a national championship game and a No. 2 national ranking. Sorensen finished fourth on the team with 70 tackles, one fewer than future NFL playerBen Taylor.
In 2000, he remained as the starter at free safety. His final game was the 41–20 win againstClemson University in the2001 Gator Bowl. Sorensen graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree inmarketing.
Sorensen was signed by theMiami Dolphins as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 27, 2001, but was waived before the season started.
Sorensen joined theSt. Louis Rams in 2001, where he played for two seasons—including the Rams' appearance inSuper Bowl XXXVI.
Following that Super Bowl season, the Rams cut Sorensen, who was then picked up by theJacksonville Jaguars. In Jacksonville, he played four seasons in the defensive backfield and as a standout on special teams. Sorensen was thespecial teams captain during his four years in Jacksonville. In 2006, Sorensen suffered a significant injury, and the Jaguars cut him prior to the start of the2007 season.[2]
On October 24, 2007, Sorensen signed with theCleveland Browns, and on February 29, 2008, the first day of free agency, he re-signed with the Browns.
On October 26, 2008, Sorensen returned to Jacksonville for the first time after being cut by Jaguars head coachJack Del Rio in August 2007. Sorensen broke up the final play of the game (a pass fromDavid Garrard toMatt Jones) with 13 seconds left in the game. The Browns won the game 23–17 thanks to Sorensen's effort.
As of the end of the 2009 season, Sorensen had not missed any of the 41 games since joining the Browns but had also not made a start. Going into the 2010 season, Sorensen was scheduled to earn $774,340 and was third on the Browns' depth chart behind rookies T. J. Ward and Larry Asante. The presence of the newly drafted rookies meant that Sorensen faced being cut after training camp. He was not and went on to primarily contribute on special teams.
On August 28, 2010, Sorensen was carted off the field with a possible neck injury during an exhibition game against theDetroit Lions. His contract expired at the conclusion of the 2010 season, and Sorensen was not signed in free agency.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2001 | STL | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | STL | 16 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | JAX | 14 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | JAX | 16 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | JAX | 10 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | JAX | 12 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | CLE | 9 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | CLE | 16 | 0 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | CLE | 16 | 0 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | CLE | 15 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 131 | 0 | 131 | 109 | 22 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2001 | STL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
From 2013 to 2020, Sorensen was a coach on theSeattle Seahawks staff under head coachPete Carroll. Sorensen served as a special teams assistant for his first three seasons. Sorensen won his first Super Bowl title when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos inSuper Bowl XLVIII.[3]
In 2016, Sorensen served as assistantdefensive backs coach, and beginning in 2017, he served as coach of the Seahawks' secondary, formerly known as theLegion of Boom.
In June 2021, theJacksonville Jaguars announced that they had hired Sorensen as their special teams coordinator.[4] He was hired to replace former Seahawks special teams coordinatorBrian Schneider, who left the organization after a brief tenure for personal reasons.[5]
In 2022, Sorensen was hired by theSan Francisco 49ers as a defensive assistant under head coachKyle Shanahan.[6] In 2023, he was promoted to defensive pass game specialist and nickels coach.
In 2024, Sorensen was promoted to defensive coordinator following the firing ofSteve Wilks.[7] The team finished with a 6–11 record, ranked 18th in the league in rushing defense, tied for 27th in scoring defense, ranked 31st in red zone defense, and lost seven of the last eight games while allowing over 30 points in four of those defeats and over 40 points in the last two contests.
On January 7, 2025, it was announced that Sorensen was fired after the 49ers' defense took a major step back in several categories.[8] He was in consideration to become the 49ers special teams coordinator, until the team elected to hireBrant Boyer instead on January 27, 2025.[9]
On January 28, 2025, Sorensen was hired by theDallas Cowboys to be the special teams coordinator.[10] He reunited with head coachBrian Schottenheimer, whom he worked with during his tenures with theSeattle Seahawks andJacksonville Jaguars.
On February 27, 2010, Sorensen wed Danielle Berry.[11] They have two sons, Nash and Stone.[12]
Sorensen's cousin,James Augustine,[13] playedforward/center in theNational Basketball Association. Sorensen's father, Dick, played football for theMiami Hurricanes from 1965 to 1969.[14] In 2012, Sorensen was working as an analyst forWKYC channel 3 in Cleveland (NBC) on the station'sBrowns Tonight post-game show.[citation needed]