Scott McCurley enters 2022 as the Dallas Cowboys linebackers coach for the third straight season.
McCurley previously spent 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers as a defensive assistant (2018), assistant linebackers coach (2014-17), defensive quality control (2009-13) and in coaching administration (2006-08). He spent the 2019 season out of football.
McCurley's second season with the Cowboys linebackers was highlighted by 2021 first round selection Micah Parsons out of Penn State. The rookie linebacker provided immediate production from Week 1 and went on to boast one of the best years by a rookie in NFL history. He racked up a franchise rookie record 13.0 sacks - tied for the third-most by a rookie in NFL history - and became the first player in team history to be named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Other linebackers Leighton Vander Esch (86 tackles) and Keanu Neal (79) were second and tied for third on the team, respectively, in tackles.
In his first year with Dallas as the linebackers coach (2020), McCurley helped Jaylon Smith finish with a team-high 160 tackles, which ranked second in the NFL. McCurley also assisted with a defensive unit that forced 23 takeaways, good for seventh in the NFL.
As a defensive assistant in 2018, the Packers unit produced 44.0 sacks to tie for eighth in the NFL, and they were the most since the 2013 team also recorded 44.0 quarterback takedowns. Additionally, Blake Martinez produced his second consecutive 100-tackle season with a team-high 147 stops to become the first Packer to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons since A.J. Hawk (2012-13).
As Green Bay's assistant linebackers coach (2014-17), McCurley worked in support of Associate Head Coach/Linebackers Winston Moss to oversee the direction and preparation of all linebackers with an emphasis on the inside linebackers. In 2017 second-year linebacker Martinez led the team with 158 tackles - eighth in team history - and 12 tackles for a loss. In 2015 McCurley helped Moss utilize the versatility of Clay Matthews in a switch to middle linebacker, as he started all 16 games for the first time in his career and made his sixth Pro Bowl with a career-high 85 tackles along with 6.5 sacks, both second on the team.
During his time as quality control coach, McCurley spent different seasons assisting with various positions throughout the defense.
McCurley broke into the NFL as a coaching admin with the Packers from 2006-08.
Before coming to Green Bay, McCurley enjoyed a lengthy playing and coaching career at the University of Pittsburgh. Initially a walk-on athlete who redshirted his first year, he earned a scholarship after his freshman season, lettered all four years at linebacker (1999-2002) and earned a spot on the 1999 Big East All-Academic team. Following graduation in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in movement science with a coaching minor, McCurley remained with the program as a defensive graduate assistant, where the 2004 team he coached won the Big East championship and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.
Born in New Castle, Pa., McCurley attended Mohawk High School in Bessemer, Pa., where he earned all-conference honors his junior and senior years, playing linebacker and offensive line, while also playing basketball.
McCurley and his wife, Colleen, have two sons, Quentin and Deacon.
