- Daron Roberts
-
Daron K. Roberts (born November 29, 1978 in Longview, Texas) is an American football special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach at West Virginia University [1][2][3] Previously he was an assistant secondary coach with the Detroit Lions [4]. He served as the defensive quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs after graduating from Harvard Law School[5] and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he was named one of the school's 75 Most Fascinating Alumni[6][7] Roberts also founded and is the past CEO of 4th and 1, a nonprofit that provides free SAT prep, football skills training and life skills development to high school students in Texas and Michigan[8].
Contents
Early Years
Daron Roberts was born in Longview, Texas on November 29, 1978. He is a fifth-generation East Texan. His family moved to Mount Pleasant, Texas when Roberts was five years old and he attended Mount Pleasant Independent School District public schools before graduating from Mount Pleasant High School in 1997. As a member of the varsity football team, Roberts earned 1st Team All-District Honors as a strong safety in 1996. During high school, Roberts served as class president all four years.
College Years
Roberts attended the University of Texas and double majored in the Plan II Honors Program and Government. He also served as an aide to Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff. During his senior year, Roberts won the student government presidency of the largest student body in the United States. After graduating in 2001, Roberts deferred entrance to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and worked as an aide to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff before attending the Harvard Kennedy School in 2004[9] After graduating with a Master in Public Policy, Roberts entered Harvard Law School. During the summer before his third year, Roberts worked as a coach at the Steve Spurrier Football Camp at the University of South Carolina[5]. That experience prompted Roberts to pursue a football coaching job. He returned to Harvard and wrote 164 letters seeking an internship. After writing letters to the head coach and defensive coordinator of every NFL franchise and 50 FBS teams, Roberts received an offer to serve as a training camp intern with the Kansas City Chiefs [10]
Coaching career
Herman Edwards allowed Roberts to volunteer for the 2007 season before hiring him as a defensive quality control coach in 2008. He assisted the defensive backs while in Kansas City - a unit that allowed 188.9 passing yards per game in 2007 and ranked fifth in the league for pass defense.
In 2009, Roberts left the Chiefs to work as an assistant secondary coach with the Detroit Lions. He inherited a unit that ranked last in most in defensive categories including pass defense. In 2010, the Lions finished 16th in pass defense.
Roberts was selected to serve as a secondary coach in the 2010 East-West Shrine Game under head coach Wade Phillips. He also coached in the 2009 Senior Bowl.
In March 2011, Roberts left the Detroit Lions to become the special teams and inside receivers coach at West Virginia University.
4th and 1
In 2010, Roberts founded 4th and 1[8], LLC - a nonprofit that provides free SAT prep, football skills training and life skills development to high school students in Texas and Michigan. The first 4th and 1 Football Camp was offered at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas[11] A select group of 35 student-athletes were chosen from four East Texas counties. Former Longhorn stars, Derrick Johnson and Ahmad Brooks visited the camp. 4th and 1 held camps at Michigan State (East Lansing) and Mount Pleasant, Texas in 2011. For his efforts the University of Texas awarded him the 2011 Outstanding Young Texas "Ex"[12]
Coaching Tree
Daron Roberts is a member of the Tony Dungy coaching tree. His first head coach was Herm Edwards.
References
- ^ MSN SportsNet: Daron's Law
- ^ "Coaching, not law, in the blood of one WVU assistant coach." The Daily Mail
- ^ "Renaissance Man." MetroNews."
- ^ Detroit Lions Bio
- ^ a b , Six Easy Steps to Being an NFL Coach. ESPN The Magazine.
- ^ , "75 Most Fascinating HLS Alumni"
- ^ "ESPN: WVU Coach Roberts Not Like Any Other Recruiter."
- ^ a b Moving the Chains, On and Off the Field. The Alcalde. July 8, 2011.
- ^ "Daron Roberts: Harvard Law to Gridiron." ESPN Insider.
- ^ Daron Roberts: For the Love of the Game. Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Profile. August 2010.
- ^ Running, Sacking, Sewing. Texas Bar Journal. July 2010.
- ^ 2011 Outstanding Young Texas "Ex"
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Longview, Texas
- West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches
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