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Darren Perry

Secondary - Safeties

Biography

Joined Packers Feb. 3, 2009.
Enters his 19th season in the NFL, his 10th as a coach.
Has been part of two Super Bowl championship teams (2010 Packers, 2005 Steelers) as a coach and has tutored a Pro Bowl player in six of his last seven seasons.
Enjoyed a nine-year NFL career as a safety and was a starter for Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX.
Has previously coached for three NFL teams – Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Oakland.
Had 15 career interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, in college at Penn State.

Darren Perry begins his third season with the Packers in 2011 as secondary – safeties coach, his 10th season coaching in the NFL.

Named to his position by Head Coach Mike McCarthy on Feb. 3, 2009, Perry has coached defensive backs in the NFL for the past nine years and has tutored a Pro Bowl player in six of the last seven seasons.

In 2010, FS Nick Collins earned Pro Bowl recognition for the third straight season, becoming the first Green Bay safety since LeRoy Butler (1996-98) to accomplish that feat. After rookie SS Morgan Burnett went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 4, veteran safety Charlie Peprah moved into the starting lineup and put together the finest season of his career under Perry’s guidance, registering career highs in tackles (64), interceptions (two) and passes defensed (seven). He also finished second on the team with 26 tackles in the postseason.

Collins and Peprah were members of a secondary that helped the Packers rank No. 1 in the league in opponent passer rating (67.2), the best mark by a Green Bay defense since 1997 (59.0). The Packers ranked No. 5 in the league in pass defense, allowing their opponents just 194.2 yards per game in 2010.

In 2009, Collins was named to the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press after finishing third among NFL safeties with six interceptions. SS Atari Bigby picked off four passes in ’09 despite missing three games due to injury, giving the Packers their first safety tandem with four-plus interceptions each since 2002 (Darren Sharper, Marques Anderson).

Collins and Bigby helped the Packers lead the NFL in both takeaways (40) and interceptions (30), the first time since 1965 that Green Bay led the league in interceptions. Perry was a member of a staff that guided the Packers defense to a No. 2 overall ranking in the league, the highest ranking since the ’96 team finished as the No. 1 defense.

Perry came to Green Bay from Oakland, where he coached the Raiders’ defensive backs for two seasons (2007-08). Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha earned his second Pro Bowl selection and All-Pro honors from AP under Perry’s tutelage, as the Raiders ranked in the top 10 each of those years in passing yards allowed. In 2008, Oakland allowed opponents to complete only 56.5 percent of their passes, tied for fourth best in the league.

Perry spent the previous four seasons coaching defensive backs in Pittsburgh under Bill Cowher, the team and coach for whom he played the majority of his career. Perry was the Steelers’ assistant defensive backs coach in 2003 and was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2004, when the Steelers finished fourth in the league in both passing yards allowed (177.2 per game) and opponents’ completion percentage (55.6). In 2005, Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XL.

Perry was credited for helping the rapid development of Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu, who earned the first of five straight Pro Bowl selections in 2004, just his second season. The versatile Polamalu also was an AP All-Pro pick twice (2004, 2005) with Perry as his position coach.

Perry broke into the NFL coaching ranks in 2002, coaching safeties for the Cincinnati Bengals under head coach Dick LeBeau, one of the most respected defensive minds in the game, who also coached defensive backs for the Packers for four seasons (1976-79).

Drafted by the Steelers in the eighth round (203rd overall) of the 1992 NFL Draft – the team’s first draft under Cowher – Perry became an immediate starter at free safety for current Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Paired with Pro Bowler Rod Woodson much of his time there, Perry played seven seasons in Pittsburgh (1992-98) and started the first 110 games of his career, including postseason. He missed only two of a possible 123 games with the Steelers, both in 1998 due to a groin injury.

Perry was the Steelers’ starting free safety in Super Bowl XXX and posted 32 career interceptions, tied for seventh in team history. His seven interceptions in 1994 marked his career high.

Perry went on to sign with the San Diego Chargers in 1999 but did not play due to a neck injury, and he concluded his playing career as the starting free safety for the New Orleans Saints in 2000, McCarthy’s first season as the offensive coordinator there. Playing in all 16 games plus two postseason contests, he had three interceptions that season, giving him 35 for his career.

A standout in college at Penn State, Perry intercepted 15 passes in his career, tying him for second in school history. He returned three interceptions for touchdowns and compiled 299 return yards, both school records. As a junior in 1990, Perry intercepted seven passes and returned one for a TD. His senior year, he had six interceptions and two scores.

Perry was an all-district and second-team all-state selection at quarterback for Deep Creek (Va.) High, where he threw for 2,790 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career, and rushed for 1,167 yards and 14 scores. He was a team captain for the football, basketball and tennis teams.

Born in Norfolk, Va., Perry lives in Green Bay with his wife, Errika, and their four children: Danielle, Dominique, Dedriana, and Devan. He also enjoys playing golf and bass guitar, and he is on the board of directors of the Chesapeake Care Free Clinic in Virginia, which provides health care to individuals without insurance or the necessary resources. Through the clinic, Perry sponsors the Intercept for Care program, which raises donations based on the number of interceptions recorded by Perry’s team in a given season.

Joined Packers Feb. 3, 2009.
Enters his 19th season in the NFL, his 10th as a coach.
Has been part of two Super Bowl championship teams (2010 Packers, 2005 Steelers) as a coach and has tutored a Pro Bowl player in six of his last seven seasons.
Enjoyed a nine-year NFL career as a safety and was a starter for Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX.
Has previously coached for three NFL teams – Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Oakland.
Had 15 career interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, in college at Penn State.

Darren Perry begins his third season with the Packers in 2011 as secondary – safeties coach, his 10th season coaching in the NFL.

Perry was the Steelers’ starting free safety in Super Bowl XXX and posted 32 career interceptions, tied for seventh in team history. His seven interceptions in 1994 marked his career high.