John Eugene DeFilippo (born April 12, 1978) is an American football coach who last served as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at James Madison University.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | April 12, 1978 Youngstown, Ohio |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Radnor (PA) |
| College: | James Madison |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Record at Pro Football Reference | |
Early life and college playing career
DeFilippo was born in 1978 in Youngstown, Ohio. His father Gene DeFilippo was then offensive coordinator for the Youngstown State University football team, a position he would hold until 1979. In 1980, the DeFilippo family moved to Nashville, as Gene became offensive backfield coach at Vanderbilt. John later spent his childhood in Spartanburg, South Carolina from 1984 to 1987 as his father was athletic director at the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg, then in Lexington, Kentucky from 1987 to 1993, when his father was associate athletic director at the University of Kentucky.[1][2]
In 1993, Gene DeFilippo became athletic director at Villanova University in Philadelphia. John DeFilippo enrolled at nearby Radnor High School in tenth grade and lived in a hotel with his father, from the summer to the early part of the school year.[3] DeFilippo played quarterback on the Radnor football team. In his first start as a varsity football player, DeFilippo led Radnor to two touchdowns in the last 6:30 of Radnor's 16-14 victory over Penncrest High School. This win ended a 34-game losing streak for Radnor but would end up Radnor's only win of the season.[3][4] As a junior in 1994, DeFilippo passed for over 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns, and Radnor finished with a 2-9 record.[4]
DeFilippo graduated from Radnor in 1996 and attended James Madison University (JMU). DeFilippo played at quarterback for the James Madison Dukes under head coach Alex Wood from 1996 to 1998 then Mickey Matthews in 1999. As a senior in 1999, DeFilippo played in 11 games as a backup and completed 8 of 18 passes for 90 yards.[5] JMU finished the season 8–4, with the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and a berth in the Division I-AA playoffs.[6][7] While a student at JMU, DeFilippo spent two summers doing NFL internships, in 1997 with the Carolina Panthers and 1998 with the Indianapolis Colts.[8] DeFilippo graduated from JMU in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in speech communications with a concentration in public relations.[7]
Coaching career
Early career
DeFilippo became quarterbacks coach at Fordham in 2000 upon graduating from James Madison.[2] The following year, DeFilippo enrolled at the University of Notre Dame to be a graduate assistant for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In the 2001 season, DeFilippo helped coach wide receivers and tight ends on Bob Davie's staff, then in 2002 worked with quarterbacks under Tyrone Willingham.[8] From 2003 to 2004, DeFilippo was again quarterbacks coach at a Division I-AA program in New York City, Columbia, under Bob Shoop. He then moved up to the NFL in 2005 as offensive quality control coach for the New York Giants under Tom Coughlin and held that position until 2006.[8] In 2007, DeFilippo joined Lane Kiffin's staff on the Oakland Raiders as quarterbacks coach and remained on staff in 2008 when Tom Cable replaced Kiffin during the season. DeFilippo became quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets under Rex Ryan in 2009.
DeFilippo returned to the college ranks in 2010 as quarterbacks coach at San Jose State under Mike MacIntyre. In 2011, DeFilippo also became offensive coordinator for San Jose State, in a season where San Jose State rose 32 places in national offensive rankings and improved to 5–7 from 1–12 the previous season.[8]
Oakland Raiders
In 2012, DeFilippo returned to the Oakland Raiders as quarterbacks coach, first under Dennis Allen, and then Tony Sparano.
Cleveland Browns
On January 21, 2015, DeFilippo was hired as the Cleveland Browns' new offensive coordinator.[9][10] However, after only 1 season, DeFilippo was let go after head coach Mike Pettine was fired.
Philadelphia Eagles
On January 21, 2016, DeFillippo was hired as the quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.[11]
Minnesota Vikings
Four days after winning Super Bowl LII, DeFilippo was hired as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.[12] DeFillippo was fired after the Vikings lost 21-7 to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.[13]
References
- ^ "Gene DeFilippo". Boston College. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Jones, Kevin (February 11, 2015). "How John DeFilippo rose the ranks to become Browns offensive coordinator". Cleveland Browns. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ a b "Losing Streak In His First Varsity Start, Quarterback John Defilippo Directed The Raiders Over Penncrest, 16-14". Philadelphia Inquirer. October 3, 1993. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Doherty, Bill (January 5, 1995). "Radnor Football Coach Resigns". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
- ^ http://jmusports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7449&path=football
- ^ http://jmusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=football&schedule=277
- ^ a b "John DeFilippo". Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 2001. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "John DeFilippo" (PDF). 2014 Oakland Raiders Media Guide. Oakland Raiders. 2014. p. 16.
- ^ "John DeFilippo hired by Cleveland Browns to be their offensive coordinator". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Browns choose John DeFilippo for offensive coordinator". Foxsports.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Berman, Zach (January 21, 2016). "Eagles hire John DeFilippo as quarterbacks coach". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
- ^ Edward Lewis (2018-02-08). "John DeFilippo named Vikings offensive coordinator". NFL.com. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ Courtney Cronin (2018-12-11). "Vikings fire OC John DeFilippo". ESPN. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
External links
- Minnesota Vikings profile
- John DeFilippo biography from the 2014 Oakland Raiders Media Guide (p. 16).