Entering his fifth season coaching in the NFL, Derrick Ansley begins his first year with the Packers in 2024 as the team's passing game coordinator (defense). Named to his position on Feb. 13, 2024, by Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Ansley comes to Green Bay after spending the past three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, serving as the team's defensive coordinator in 2023.
In 2023, the Chargers finished tied for No. 7 in the league in sacks (48), the most by the Chargers since 2006 (61). LB Khalil Mack ranked No. 4 in the NFL with a career-high 17 sacks, tying the single-season team record on his way to earning Pro Bowl recognition. Mack added a career-high 10 passes defensed, becoming the first NFL player since DL J.J. Watt in 2014 to register 15-plus sacks and 10-plus passes defensed in a season. Mack was one of four Chargers to record 10-plus passes defensed, the most by any team in the league in 2023 and the most by the Chargers since they had five players do so in 2004. Under Ansley's direction, the Chargers also finished tied for No. 7 in the NFL in opponent red-zone scoring efficiency (82.4 pct.) and tied for No. 5 in opponent fumbles recovered with 12, the most by the Chargers in a season since 2012 (14).
Ansley coached the secondary for the Chargers the previous two seasons, with S Derwin James Jr. earning second-team AP All-Pro honors and Pro Bowl recognition in 2022 after he was the only defensive back in the NFL to post 110-plus tackles, four-plus sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. In addition to James, Ansley tutored cornerbacks Michael Davis and Asante Samuel Jr., with Davis leading the team with a career-high 15 passes defensed and Samuel adding 11 passes defensed and a pair of INTs in 2022. In Ansley's first season leading the secondary in 2021, James was the only defensive back in the league to record 100-plus tackles, multiple sacks, multiple INTs and three-plus forced fumbles as he earned Pro Bowl honors. Samuel was named NFL Rookie of the Month for September 2021 after recording two INTs in his first three NFL games, the first Charger to accomplish that feat since S Andre Young in 1982. As a unit, the Los Angeles defense ranked No. 3 in the NFL with an AFC-best 19 forced fumbles, the team's most in a season dating back to 1994.
Before joining the Chargers, Ansley spent two seasons (2019-20) as the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at the University of Tennessee. In his first season with the Volunteers, the team ranked No. 23 in the nation in total defense (334.5 ypg) after ranking No. 49 in the category in 2018 (377.4 ypg). Tennessee also ranked No. 16 in the country in '19 in passing defense (194.0 ypg) and tied for No. 13 in INTs (15). Ansley's 2019 defense featured 11 first-time starters, including five freshmen, with DB Nigel Warrior earning first-team AP All-Southeastern Conference recognition and LB Henry To'o To'o earning Freshman All-America honors from The Athletic. LB Darrell Taylor ranked No. 2 in the SEC with 8½ sacks in 2019 and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round (No. 48 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Ansley's first NFL coaching experience came in 2018 with the Raiders as defensive backs coach, where he helped Oakland rank No. 14 in the NFL with 14 INTs after the team finished last in the NFL in the category in 2017 (five). Ansley worked closely that season with second-year CB Gareon Conley, who tied for the team lead with a career-high three INTs and finished tied for No. 5 in the league with a career-best 15 passes defensed.
Ansley coached defensive backs at the University of Alabama in 2016-17, helping the Crimson Tide rank No. 1 in the nation in total defense and scoring defense in both of those seasons. He tutored Minkah Fitzpatrick to All-America honors in both seasons, including a unanimous selection following the 2017 campaign. That same year, Fitzpatrick was the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Award, which recognizes the top defensive back in college football, and the Chuck Bednarik Award, which recognizes the top defensive player in college football. Fitzpatrick became just the third player in NCAA history to win both awards in the same season as he joined CBs Charles Woodson and Patrick Peterson. Ansley was part of a staff that guided Alabama to a national title in 2017 and saw six members of the Crimson Tide's secondary become eventual NFL Draft selections.
Ansley spent the previous three seasons at the University of Kentucky (2013-15), where he coached the defensive backs for the first two seasons and then served as co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach in 2015. The 2014 campaign saw the Wildcats record a school-record six defensive touchdowns and 23 total takeaways.
Ansley's first opportunity as a position coach in the SEC came at Tennessee in 2012 when he coached the defensive backs, where he worked with CB Justin Coleman, who went on to play eight seasons (2015-22) in the NFL, and S Byron Moore, who tied for the SEC lead with five INTs in 2012. Ansley spent two seasons (2010-11) as a graduate assistant at Alabama, where he was part of a staff that helped guide the Crimson Tide to a BCS national title in 2011.
Ansley broke into the coaching ranks at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., where he tutored the defensive backs for five seasons (2005-09). During his time with the Hawks, Huntingdon recorded the program's first NCAA Division III playoff appearance and posted a winning record in four of five seasons. Ansley recruited DB Keith Anthony to Huntingdon and coached the eventual Huntingdon Athletic Hall of Fame inductee to a record-setting sophomore season that saw him rank tied for No. 5 in Division III with nine INTs.
As a collegiate safety, Ansley started 40 consecutive games for Troy from 2001-04 and finished his career with 19 INTs, the second most in school history. He earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors as a senior in 2004 and posted nine INTs as a junior in 2003, the second most in a season in school history. Ansley was teammates at Troy with a pair of future All-Pro selections in LB DeMarcus Ware and DE Osi Umenyiora.
Ansley was born Dec. 11, 1981, in Tallassee, Ala. He and his wife, Alaea, have a daughter, Selena.
