Matt Cavanaugh
American football player and coach (born 1956)
American football player
 Cavanaugh in 2015 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1956-10-27) October 27, 1956 (age 67) Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Chaney (Youngstown) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Pittsburgh (1974-1977) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1978 / round: 2 / pick: 50 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| As a coach: | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
| Coaching stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Matthew Andrew Cavanaugh (born October 27, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback, winning two Super Bowl titles. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers.
After retiring from playing following the 1991 season, Cavanaugh worked as an offensive coach and offensive coordinator for teams including the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens (where he earned a third ring as a coach), Washington Redskins, and New York Jets.
Biography
Early career
Cavanaugh was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and attended Chaney High School. He was a football standout and went on to the University of Pittsburgh after graduating. In 1976, he was the starting quarterback for the undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers (he was on the same team with Tony Dorsett) and contributed to the team's National Championship 27–3 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. On that day, Cavanaugh was selected as the Sugar Bowl's Most Valuable Player.[1]
Cavanaugh was also named MVP of the 1977 Gator Bowl, throwing four touchdown passes in a 34–3 win over Clemson.
In 1977, Cavanaugh threw for 1,844 yards with 15 touchdowns against six interceptions. Cavanaugh threw for the second-most passing yards in Pittsburgh history, only trailing quarterback Ken Lucas's 1,921 yards in 1965.[2]
Playing career
Cavanaugh was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 1978 NFL draft, but spent much of his career as a backup.[3] His professional playing career included stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. Cavanaugh was the backup quarterback in both the 1984 Super Bowl XIX and the 1990 Super Bowl XXV to Joe Montana and Jeff Hostetler, respectively. Cavanaugh retired as a professional player following the 1991 season, appearing in 112 games with 19 starts, completing 305 of 579 passes for 4,332 yards, 28 touchdowns, 30 interceptions and a 71.7 passer rating.[3]
Coaching career
Following his retirement, he has served in the following positions: chief recruiter and offensive coach, University of Pittsburgh (1992–1993); offensive coach, Arizona Cardinals (1994–1995); offensive coach, San Francisco 49ers (1996); offensive coordinator, Chicago Bears (1997–1998); and offensive coordinator, Baltimore Ravens (1999–2004), winning Super Bowl XXXV with the Ravens in 2000.[3] Cavanaugh served as offensive coordinator for his old college team, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, until 2008 when he accepted a position as an assistant coach and quarterbacks coach with the New York Jets. He would remain with the Jets until 2012.
On January 18, 2013, it was announced that Bears head coach Marc Trestman has hired Cavanaugh as the quarterbacks coach, replacing Jeremy Bates.[4]
On January 28, 2015, Cavanaugh became the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins. On January 23, 2017, Cavanaugh was promoted to offensive coordinator of the Redskins, replacing Sean McVay, who became the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. On January 29, 2019, Cavanaugh was demoted to senior offensive assistant of the Redskins.[5]
On August 25, 2021, Cavanaugh was hired by the New York Jets as a senior offensive assistant.[6]
References
- ^ Livingston, Pat (August 17, 1977). "Cavanaugh's Heisman Bid Up in the Air". Pittsburgh Press. p. C-24. Retrieved September 20, 2016 – via Google News.
- ^ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/06guide-recordbook.pdf Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
- ^ a b c Mayer, Larry (July 9, 2013). "Cavanaugh driven by will to win Super Bowl". Chicago Bears. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
- ^ Mayer, Larry (January 1, 2013). "Bears hire assistant coaches Cavanaugh, Peete". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ "Kevin O'Connell - Los Angeles Rams - NFL". www.nbcsports.com.
- ^ Wells, MacGregor (August 25, 2021). "Jets Hire Matt Cavanaugh As Senior Offensive Assistant". Gang Green Nation. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
External links
- Washington Redskins bio Archived January 29, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
- v
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Pittsburgh Panthers starting quarterbacks
- Bert Smyers
- Norman Budd
- Guy Williamson (1915)
- Jimmy DeHart
- Edward Baker
- Paul Rickards (1944)
- William Wolff (1945)
- Carl DePasqua (1946)
- Robert Lee (1947)
- Lou Cecconi (1948–1949)
- Bob Bestwick (1950–1951)
- Rudy Mattiola (1952)
- Henry Ford (1953)
- Corny Salvaterra (1954–1956)
- Bill Kaliden (1957)
- Ivan Toncic (1958–1959)
- James Traficant (1960–1962)
- Fred Mazurek (1963–1964)
- Ken Lucas (1965)
- Ed James (1966)
- Bob Bazylak (1967)
- Dave Havern (1968–1971)
- Jim Friedl (1969)
- John Hogan (1970–1972)
- Bill Daniels (1973–1974)
- Robert Haygood (1975)
- Matt Cavanaugh (1976–1977)
- Rick Trocano (1978)
- Dan Marino (1979–1982)
- John Congemi (1983–1986)
- Sal Genilla (1987)
- Darnell Dickerson (1988)
- Alex Van Pelt (1989–1992)
- John Ryan (1993–1995)
- Matt Lytle (1996–1998)
- Pete Gonzalez (1997)
- David Priestley (1999–2001)
- John Turman (1999–2000)
- Rod Rutherford (2002–2003)
- Tyler Palko (2004–2006)
- Bill Stull (2007–2009)
- Kevan Smith (2007)
- Pat Bostick (2007–2008)
- Tino Sunseri (2010–2012)
- Tom Savage (2013)
- Chad Voytik (2014–2015)
- Nathan Peterman (2015–2016)
- Max Browne (2017)
- Ben DiNucci (2017)
- Kenny Pickett (2017–2021)
- Nick Patti (2019, 2021)
- Joey Yellen (2020)
- Kedon Slovis (2022)
- Nate Yarnell (2022–2023)
- Phil Jurkovec (2023)
- Christian Veilleux (2023)
- Eli Holstein (2024)
