Greg Scruggs

American football player and coach (born 1990)

American football player

Greg Scruggs

Scruggs with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012

No. 98, 90, 97
Position:| Defensive end
Personal information
Born:|  (1990-08-17) August 17, 1990 (age 34)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Career information
High school:| St. Xavier
(Cincinnati, Ohio)
College:| Louisville
NFL draft:| 2012 / round: 7 / pick: 232
Career history
As a player:

* Seattle Seahawks (2012–2015)
* Chicago Bears (2015–2016)
* New England Patriots (2016)

As a coach:

* Cincinnati (2018–2019)
Director of player development
* Cincinnati (2020–2021)
Defensive line coach
* New York Jets (2022)
Assistant defensive line coach
* Wisconsin (2023)
Defensive line coach

Career highlights and awards

* 2× Super Bowl champion (XLVIII, LI)

Career NFL statistics
| Total tackles:| 11

|

Sacks:| 3.0
Pass deflections:| 1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Greg Scruggs (born August 17, 1990) is an American football assistant coach and former defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2012 NFL draft, after playing college football at Louisville. He also played for the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears. Scruggs was a defensive line coach for the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bearcats and the Wisconsin Badgers.

## Early life

[edit]

Scruggs was born in Cincinnati, and lived in the city's Winton Terrace housing project[1] before joining the local Boys Hope Girls Hope residential program in 2003.[2] As a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, he lived in the Boys Hope House on campus. After playing the quad drums in the school marching band for three years and varsity basketball for two, he reluctantly joined the football team his senior year, at the behest of head coach Steve Specht. Scruggs graduated in 2008.[3][4]

## College career

[edit]

Scruggs played defensive tackle for the University of Louisville Cardinals and graduated in 2011.[5]

## Professional career

[edit]

### Seattle Seahawks

[edit]

Scruggs was selected as the 25th pick in the seventh round, 232nd overall, in the 2012 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.[6][7][8] NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks stated that Scruggs is a competitive defensive end with toughness and will have to battle for a backup spot on the Seahawks' roster.[9] On August 27, 2013, the Seahawks placed Scruggs on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.[10] The Seahawks announced on August 31, 2015, they waived Scruggs, making him a free agent.[11]

### Chicago Bears

[edit]

On December 31, 2015, Scruggs signed with the Chicago Bears. On January 3, 2016, Scruggs recorded his third career sack against the Detroit Lions.[12]

During the 2016 offseason, Scruggs switched from the defensive end position to tight end.[13][14] He was released by the Bears on September 27, 2016.[15]

### New England Patriots

[edit]

On October 1, 2016, Scruggs was signed by the New England Patriots.[16] He was placed on injured reserve on October 15, 2016, with a knee injury after being inactive for the first two games he was on the Patriots roster.[17] Scruggs would not play when the Patriots won Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017. Scruggs won his second Super Bowl championship after the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime.[18]

## Coaching career

[edit]

In 2018, Scruggs joined Luke Fickell's staff at the University of Cincinnati as the Director of Player Development.[19] For the 2020 season, Scruggs was promoted to the defensive line coach for the Bearcats.[20]

On March 3, 2022, it was reported that Scruggs accepted an assistant defensive line coach position with the New York Jets.[21]

In 2023, Scruggs left the NFL to follow former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell to coach the defensive line for the Wisconsin Badgers.

On March 6, 2024, Scruggs was officially hired by the University of Michigan to coach the defensive line. On March 21, 2024, Greg Scruggs resigned following an operating while intoxicated arrest on March 16, 2024. Scruggs did not coach a practice or game while with the Michigan Wolverines.[22]

## Personal life

[edit]

Scruggs submitted the winning nomination of his high school coach, Steve Specht, for the 2013 Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year Award.[23]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Curnutte, Mark (May 31, 2012). "Students trade the streets for opportunity". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved June 13, 2012. "Greg Scruggs grew up in the Winton Terrace public housing project and, as early as fourth grade, felt the strong pull of the streets."
2. ^ Day, Hayley (April 26, 2012). "BHGH Cincinnati Graduate, Greg Scruggs, is slated to be recruited in 2012 NFL Draft". Boys Hope Girls Hope of Cincinnati. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
3. ^ Brown, C. L. "U of L's Greg Scruggs learns to march to the beat of success". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky: Gannett Company. "The University of Louisville's sophomore defensive end gained his popularity at Cincinnati St. Xavier High School for being the kid with flair who had the 'quints' drum set strapped to his shoulder."
4. ^ "St. Xavier Basketball History". Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Xavier High School. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
5. ^ Greg Scruggs. "Player Bio: Greg Scruggs - University of Louisville Official Athletic Site". Uoflsports.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
6. ^ "2012 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
7. ^ O'Neil, Danny (April 28, 2012). "Seventh round (v.2.0): DE Greg Scruggs, Louisville | Seahawks Blog | The Seattle Times". Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
8. ^ [1][dead link‍]
9. ^ "Greg Scruggs Draft Profile –". Nfl.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
10. ^ Blount, Terry (August 27, 2013). "Seattle Seahawks reduce roster to 75". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
11. ^ Boyle, John. "Seahawks Reduce Roster to 76 Players". Seahawks.com. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
12. ^ "Lions vs. Bears - Box Score - January 3, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
13. ^ Biggs, Brad (May 11, 2016). "Has defensive lineman Greg Scruggs moved to tight end?". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
14. ^ Mayer, Larry (July 11, 2016). "Scruggs adjusting to other side of ball". ChicagoBears.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
15. ^ Mayer, Larry. "Bears ink Joique Bell, put Fuller on IR". ChicagoBears.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
16. ^ "Patriots make a series of transactions". Patriots.com. October 1, 2016.
17. ^ "Patriots sign DL Geneo Grisson and DL Anthony Johnson to the 53-man roster; Place LB Jonathan Freeny and TE Greg Scruggs on Injured Reserve". Patriots.com. October 15, 2016.
18. ^ "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
19. ^ Groeschen, Tom (July 10, 2018). "Cincinnati Bearcats: Former St. Xavier, NFL player Greg Scruggs joins UC football staff". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
20. ^ Thamel, Pete [@PeteThamel] (February 24, 2020). "Source: Cincinnati is hiring Greg Scruggs as defensive line coach. He'd served as Luke Fickell's Director of Player Development at Cincinnati prior to the promotion" (Tweet). Retrieved February 24, 2020 - via Twitter.
21. ^ @PeteThamel (March 2, 2022). "Sources: University of Cincinnati defensive line coach Greg Scruggs has accepted a job as an assistant defensive line coach with the New York Jets. He's a five-year NFL veteran who won two Super Bowls as a player" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
22. ^ "Michigan football DL coach Greg Scruggs resigns after recent OWI arrest".
23. ^ Reedy, Joe (January 30, 2013). "St. Xavier's Steve Specht is NFL High School Coach of the Year". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved February 1, 2013. "On Friday, head coach Steve Specht will be named the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year. ... Specht ... was nominated for the award by rookie Seahawks defensive end Greg Scruggs."

## Further reading

[edit]

* Daugherty, Paul (January 31, 2013). "Doc: Steve Specht, Greg Scruggs show how it should work". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Greg Scruggs at Wikimedia Commons

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