Ex-Jaguars and Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio joins Wisconsin Badgers coaching staff

Del Rio as a member of the now-Washington Commanders coaching staff.Photo byAll-Pro Reels/Wikimedia Commons

Jack Del Rio has been a commonly-seen figure on National Football League sidelines over the years. A large chunk of that time was while he was a head coach.

Somewhat unusually, Del Rio had only ever been a coach at the NFL level. Until now, that is.

Hired as a senior advisor by the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jack Del Rio is now a staffer for the Wisconsin Badgers football program. He is slated to serve as a senior advisor for head coach Luke Fickell. It marks Del Rio's return to coaching after being fired as defensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders last year.

Del Rio is expected to work with players on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. He would also reportedly be something of a 'sounding board' for Fickell. Notably, the Badgers' newly-minted conference rival in the Washington Huskies includes his son, Luke, on their staff.

For many football fans, they might remember Del Rio best as being the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and later of what were then the Oakland Raiders. Between the two clubs, he reached the postseason three times as a head coach and was voted as the 2016 recipient of the NFL Coach of the Year Award.

He began his coaching career with the New Orleans Saints and later joined the Baltimore Ravens, helping them win Super Bowl XXXV as the linebackers coach. Del Rio also reached Super Bowl XLVIII as the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos.

Was a Pro Bowl player

At the high school level, Jack Del Rio was a three-sport star in Hayward, California. Among his teammates on the football and baseball squads was future MLB player and manager Don Wakamatsu.

Del Rio was drafted out of high school in the 1981 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He did not sign with the team, favoring instead to attend the University of Southern California, where he played both football and baseball.

With the USC Trojans, Del Rio won the 1985 Rose Bowl as a linebacker. His individual accolades included being named an All-American three times. In 2015, he was inducted as a member of the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1985, Del Rio was drafted by the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. He went with the Saints, which would be the first of four NFL franchises he would play for across eleven seasons.

Perhaps his best stretch as a player came with the Minnesota Vikings. During that time, Del Rio was a 1994 Pro Bowl selection and was part of the division championship teams.