Defensive Coordinator
NFL Experience: 17
Years with Buccaneers: 1
Jim Bates begins his first season as defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 and his 17th year as a coach in the National Football League. Bates, who has nearly four decades of overall coaching experience, is widely regarded as one of the league’s top defensive minds.Bates has eight years of experience leading NFL defenses, serving as assistant head coach/defense for the Denver Broncos (2007) and as defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers (2005), Miami Dolphins (2000-2004) and Atlanta Falcons (1994). He also was the Dolphins’ interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2004 season.
Bates has guided defenses that have ranked among the NFL’s top 10 in overall yards allowed during six of his eight years leading a defense. A total of 12 players have earned 23 Pro Bowl honors under Bates during his 16 years as a coach in the NFL.
In his most recent coaching stint, Bates led a Broncos defense in 2007 that ranked seventh in the NFL in pass defense and featured perennial All-Pro CB Champ Bailey and former Buccaneer S John Lynch, who both made the Pro Bowl under Bates that season. Prior to joining the Broncos, Bates worked as the Packers’ defensive coordinator during the 2005 season. Green Bay led the NFL in passing defense by allowing only 167.5 yards per game, marking the franchise’s lowest such total in 27 years, and ranked seventh in the league in overall defense (293.1 ypg.).
Bates joined the Packers after five seasons as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator from 2000-2004 and also was their interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2004 campaign. During those five seasons, Bates’ defense with the Dolphins ranked fifth in the NFL in total yards per game (294.8 ypg.) and sixth in takeaways (160), including 103 interceptions that marked the third-highest total in the league.
Individually, eight different Miami defenders earned a total of 19 Pro Bowl honors in five seasons under Bates. Miami DE Jason Taylor flourished in Bates’ scheme, ranking second in the league in sacks (64) from 2000-2004 and earning three Pro Bowl selections. CB Patrick Surtain enjoyed similar success under Bates, posting the third-most interceptions (25) in the NFL from 2000-2004 and earning a selection to three Pro Bowls. LB Zach Thomas was named to four consecutive Pro Bowls (2000-2003) with Bates coordinating Miami’s defense and averaged 181 tackles per season under the veteran NFL coach during four seasons from 2001-2004.
During his final year with Miami in 2004, Bates guided Miami to a No. 2 NFL ranking in pass defense (162.0 ypg.) and instructed the league’s fifth-best third-down defense (32.3%). He was named the Dolphins’ interim head coach for the final seven games that year, taking over for Dave Wannstedt. Miami finished the season with a 3-4 record under Bates, highlighted by a 29-28 win against eventual Super Bowl champion New England on December 20.
Miami featured the NFL’s top-ranked red zone defense (32.6%) under Bates in 2003 and ranked third in the league with 44 sacks while not allowing a single rusher to gain 100 yards in a game. DE Adewale Ogunleye ranked second in the NFL with 15 sacks to earn Pro Bowl honors that season and teamed with Taylor (13 sacks) to form the league’s most productive sack tandem (28 sacks).
In 2002, Bates helped six Miami defenders earn Pro Bowl accolades as part of a unit that ranked third in the NFL in overall defense (291.0 ypg.) and tied for fifth against the run (97.1 ypg.). The Dolphins led the league against the pass under Bates in 2001, allowing 176.8 yards per game to help the club record its second consecutive 11-win season and playoff appearance.
During Bates’ first year as Miami’s defensive coordinator in 2000, the Dolphins posted an NFL-best 28 interceptions and featured four players with five or more interceptions while ranking third in the league in scoring defense (14.1 ppg.). The AFC East-champion Dolphins finished the year with the seventh-most sacks (48) in the league and were led by DE Trace Armstrong’s 16.5 sacks, which marked the second-highest total in the NFL. Armstrong and Taylor (14.5 sacks) combined for 31 sacks, the most by any duo in the NFL, and were two of the five Miami defenders who earned Pro Bowl accolades in 2000.
Before being named Miami’s defensive coordinator, Bates spent four years on Dallas’ coaching staff from 1996-1999 and helped the team capture two NFC East titles and earn three postseason berths. He coached the Cowboys’ linebackers from 1996-1997 and was the club’s assistant head coach in charge of its defensive line from 1998-1999.
Cowboys DT Leon Lett was named to the Pro Bowl in 1998 under Bates, whose defensive line with Dallas was among the NFL’s best against the run. The Cowboys ranked seventh in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed (95.7 ypg.) and yards per carry (3.7) from 1998-1999 while allowing the fifth-fewest rushing touchdowns (16) during those two seasons.
Bates began his NFL coaching career with the Browns in 1991 and was hired that season by Head Coach Bill Belichick to coach the club’s linebackers. He was the Browns’ defensive ends coach from 1992-93 and spent the 1995 season as the club’s secondary coach following a one-year stint as the Falcons’ defensive coordinator in 1994.
Bates’ defensive ends with Cleveland helped the team tie for third in the NFL with 96 sacks posted from 1992-1993, a time period in which the Browns ranked sixth against the run (101.8 ypg.). As the Falcons’ defensive coordinator in 1994, Bates instructed a unit that tied for eighth in the NFL in takeaways (33) and featured Pro Bowl LB Jessie Tuggle.
Before entering the NFL coaching ranks, Bates spent two years in the Southeastern Conference as linebackers coach for the University of Tennessee’s SEC Champion team in 1989 and as defensive coordinator at the University of Florida in 1990. Bates was at Florida during Steve Spurrier’s first year as the Gators’ head coach and instructed a defense that produced two All-Americans in LB Huey Richardson (first team AP) and S Will White (third team AP). Bates, who also had specific responsibilities coaching Florida’s secondary, helped the Gators set a school single-season record for fewest rushing yards allowed (85.6 ypg.) in 1990.
Bates is one of 13 individuals to serve as a head coach in both the NFL and United States Football League, having also worked in that capacity for the San Antonio Gunslingers in 1985. He worked as a defensive coordinator in the USFL for two seasons with San Antonio (1984) and the Arizona Outlaws (1986) while adding a year of professional coaching experience as an assistant with the Arena Football League’s Detroit Drive in 1988.
Bates spent six seasons on the coaching staff of Texas Tech University from 1978-1983. He was the Red Raiders’ secondary coach from 1978-1979 and had additional responsibilities as their defensive coordinator from 1980-1983. Bates instructed two first-team All-Americans at Texas Tech in DT Gabriel Rivera (1982) and DB Ted Watts (1980), both of whom were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
A linebacker in college at Tennessee, Bates began his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant with the Volunteers in 1968 and spent the next three years as the head coach at Sevier County High School in Tennessee. He was the University of Southern Mississippi’s freshman coach in 1972 and had coaching stints at Villanova (offensive line in 1973, linebackers in 1974), Kansas State (linebackers from 1975-1976) and West Virginia (secondary in 1977).
Bates was born on May 31, 1946, in Pontiac, Michigan, and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Tennessee in 1968. He is married to Beverly and has two sons: Jeremy and James. Jeremy is in his first season as the assistant head coach of the offense/quarterbacks at the University of Southern California. James, a linebacker and defensive captain on the University of Florida’s 1996 national championship team, does television play-by-play for the Mountain West Sports Network.
BATES AT A GLANCE
- 1964-67...University of Tennessee, player
- 1968...University of Tennessee, Graduate Assistant
- 1969-1971...Sevier County High School (Tenn.), Head Coach
- 1972...University of Southern Mississippi, Freshman Coach
- 1973...Villanova University, Offensive Line Coach
- 1974...Villanova University, Linebackers Coach
- 1975-76...Kansas State University, Linebackers Coach
- 1977...West Virginia University, Secondary Coach
- 1978-79...Texas Tech University, Secondary Coach
- 1980...Texas Tech University, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary Coach
- 1981-83...Texas Tech University, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary Coach
- 1984...San Antonio Gunslingers (USFL), Defensive Coordinator
- 1985...San Antonio Gunslingers (USFL), Head Coach
- 1986...Arizona Outlaws (USFL), Defensive Coordinator
- 1988...Detroit Drive (AFL), Assistant Coach
- 1989...University of Tennessee, Linebackers Coach
- 1990...University of Florida, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary Coach
- 1991...Cleveland Browns, Linebackers Coach
- 1992-93...Cleveland Browns, Defensive Ends Coach
- 1994...Atlanta Falcons, Defensive Coordinator
- 1995...Cleveland Browns, Secondary Coach
- 1996-97...Dallas Cowboys, Linebackers Coach
- 1998-99...Dallas Cowboys, Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line Coach
- 2000-03...Miami Dolphins, Defensive Coordinator
- 2004...Miami Dolphins, Defensive Coordinator/Interim Head Coach
- 2005...Green Bay Packers, Defensive Coordinator
- 2007...Denver Broncos, Assistant Head Coach/Defense
- 2009...Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Defensive Coordinator
