Assistant Defensive Backs Coach
NFL Experience: 4
Years with Buccaneers: 4
Dwayne Stukes enters his fourth season with the Buccaneers and first as assistant defensive backs coach after serving as the special teams quality control coach in 2008 and as a coaches assistant from 2006-2007. Stukes works closely with defensive backs coach Joe Baker in the instruction of the Buccaneers secondary. In 2008, Stukes assisted Richard Bisaccia, associate head coach-special teams and running backs, in the coaching of the Buccaneers special teams unit. Last season proved to be one of the best special teams campaigns in franchise history as rookie return man Clifton Smith became the first ever Buccaneer selected to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner. Smith was also the only Buccaneer to earn All-Pro honors, garnering second-team recognition, and was the only player in the NFL in 2008 and only player in Buccaneers history to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown. Smith ranked fifth in the NFL and second in the NFC with a 27.6-yard kickoff return average while ranking second in the NFL and first in the NFC with a 14.1-yard punt return average last season. In 2007, Stukes help guide the Buccaneers to the NFC South title.
A former defensive back, Stukes spent parts of four seasons in the NFL from 2000-2003 as a member of the Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers. He also spent time with NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder (2001-2002) and the Arena Football League’s Colorado Crush (2004).
Stukes was a four-year letterman at the University of Virginia, seeing action at cornerback and safety. A history major, Stukes was awarded UVA’s Gretchen Savin Macillwaine Football Scholarship, given for outstanding academic achievement. He is single and resides in Tampa.
STUKES AT A GLANCE
- 1995-99...University of Virginia, player
- 2001-02...Berlin Thunder, player
- 2004...Colorado Crush, player
- 2006...Berlin Thunder, Assistant Defensive Backs Coach
- 2006-07...Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Coaches Assistant
- 2008...Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Special Teams Quality Control Coach
- 2009...Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Assistant Defensive Backs Coach
