5 Things to Know: Derius Swinton

Jan 27, 2021 at 12:20 PM

Hayley Elwood

Team Reporter

The Los Angeles Chargers announced that they agreed to terms with Derius Swinton as the team's new special teams coordinator.

Here are five things to know about Swinton:

1. Former Cardinals Assistant ST Coach: Swinton served as the assistant special teams coach for the Arizona Cardinals last year.

2. Former Hampton Pirate: Swinton played football and basketball at Hampton University. As a safety during his time there, he totaled 103 tackles, 19 passes defensed and eight interceptions.

3. Other Coaching Stops: Swinton has a wealth of experience coaching special teams in the NFL as he's done so for a decade. With the 49ers in 2016, he improved the team's kickoff return average to rank fifth in the NFL that season (19.8). For two seasons (2015, 2017) Swinton coached the Bears as the assistant special teams coach and helped Chicago rank No. 3 in the league in '17 with a 10.5 yards per punt return average. He was also an offensive assistant for the Detroit Lions in 2018.

building out the staff 🤝

→ https://t.co/zT4XVVh1az pic.twitter.com/TotwUPqJIb
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) January 25, 2021

4. Staley Connection: As noted above, Swinton was the assistant special teams coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 2017. That's where he crossed paths with Brandon Staley who then served as the Bears outside linebackers coach.

5. Pro Bowl Players: Throughout his time in the league, Swinton has coached multiple players to Pro Bowls including kicker Matt Prater (2013) and punter Dustin Colquitt (2012.)