Coach Nunnely and the Dline

Coach Wayne Nunnely in the grey T-Shirt above and below teaching the Dline.

Coach Wayne Nunnely always seems to field one of the best Dlines in the NFL. While he has seen many different Dline players he has his Dline as one of the top NFL Teams at stopping the run and sacking the QB every year in stats. Wayne Nunnely has been so consistent that he has been kept on staff while many of the other coaches have come and gone. It's a good thing, because he is probably the best Dline coach in the NFL.

From Chargers.com on Wayne Nunnely.


Wayne Nunnely
Defensive Line

14th NFL Season, 12th with Chargers

Simply put, Wayne Nunnely is one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL. He’s also one of the longest tenured in Chargers history as this season, his 12^th in San Diego, will tie him with Joe Madro and Jackie Simpson for the second-most seasons as Bolts assistant. Only Earnel Durden (13 seasons) coached here longer and only Durden, Madro and Nunnely coached in San Diego without interruption. Nunnely has been on the sideline for 176 consecutive regular-season games since joining the Bolts in 1997.

Year-in and year-out, the Chargers are among the NFL’s best teams at stopping the run. With Nunnely on board, the Chargers have ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in both rushing yards allowed per game and rushing yards allowed per carry in seven out of the past 11 seasons. Twice under Nunnely’s watch (1998 and 2005), the Chargers led the NFL in run defense. In 1998, the Chargers allowed a team-record 71.3 yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry. The yards per game average was the fifth-lowest in the NFL since the league went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 and the yards per attempts was the lowest average allowed by any team in the league since 1970. The Chargers also ranked first in the NFL in yards per carry in 1999 (3.1) and 2001 (3.3) and in yards per game in 2005 (84.3).

Nunnely’s defensive fronts have also left their mark on the team’s record book. In his 11 seasons, the Chargers have recorded six of the franchise’s 10 best yards per game averages in team history and seven of the top 10 yards per carry averages for a season.