American football player
 Fears in August 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | (1954-11-15) November 15, 1954 (age 70) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Suffolk (VA) John Yeates |
| College: | William & Mary |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Ivan Fears (born November 15, 1954) is a former American football coach. He was the running backs coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) from 2002 to 2021.
Playing career
High school
Fears attended John Yeates High School in Suffolk, Virginia, and was a letterman in football. In football, he was twice named the school's "Outstanding Player of the Year", and as a senior, was also an All-State selection. He attended The College of William & Mary, where he played football as a running back from 1973 to 1975.
Coaching career
College
Fears began his coaching career in 1976 with his alma mater, William & Mary as a graduate assistant and in 1977-1978 was the team's Receivers coach. In 1979, he served as the team's quarterbacks coach before moving to Syracuse University in 1980 as the wide receivers coach.
NFL
Fears joined the Patriots' coaching staff in 1991. He spent two seasons with the Patriots before moving on to coach the Chicago Bears' wide receivers starting in 1993, but rejoined the New England coaching staff in 1999 as their wide receivers coach. In 2002, he was reassigned to running backs coach. Fears won six Super Bowls as an integral part of both dynasties with the Patriots. He announced his retirement in 2022.
References
- Phillips, Michael (January 31, 2019). "Ivan Fears was one of the first black players at William & Mary. Now he's preparing for his ninth Super Bowl". Culpeper Star-Exponent. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- "Ivan Fears". Fanbase. Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
- Yang, Nicole (November 23, 2019). "Patriots assistant coach Ivan Fears not worried about struggling running game". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- "Super Bowl XXXVI - St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots - February 3rd, 2002". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- "Super Bowl XXXVIII - New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers - February 1st, 2004". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- "Super Bowl XXXIX - Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots - February 6th, 2005". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- "Super Bowl XLIX - Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots - February 1st, 2015". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- "Super Bowl LIII - Los Angeles Rams vs. New England Patriots - February 3rd, 2019". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
- Houde, Isaiah (June 8, 2022). "Patriots longtime RBs coach Ivan Fears confirms retirement - sort of". Patriots Wire. USA Today. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
External links
Categories:- 1954 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Portsmouth, Virginia
- American football running backs
- William & Mary Tribe football players
- William & Mary Tribe football coaches
- Syracuse Orange football coaches
- New England Patriots coaches
- Chicago Bears coaches
- Players of American football from Virginia
- African-American coaches of American football