Derius Swinton II enters his second season with the Las Vegas Raiders as the assistant special teams coach, his 14th season in the NFL coaching ranks.
In 2023, Swinton supported a special teams unit that performed among the best in the NFL, helping P AJ Cole earn his third-straight Pro Bowl appearance after finishing the season with a league-high 45.1 net punting average, also the best average in a single season in Raiders history since 1976. He also saw K Daniel Carlson become just the 12th player in NFL history to reach 700 career points in his first six NFL seasons. Carlson finished the season making 26-of-30 field goals and 32-of-32 extra points. Swinton also oversaw WR DeAndre Carter in his first season with the Raiders, who returned 24 punts for 232 yards (9.7 avg.). His 9.7 yards per punt return was tied for the 12th best average in the NFL in 2023 (min. 20 returns).
Swinton joined the Raiders after serving as the special teams coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers for the 2021 season. His new position in Las Vegas completes his AFC West career tour as Swinton has now held coaching positions for all four teams in the division beginning with the Chiefs in 2012, the Broncos in 2013-14, the Chargers in 2021 and now the Raiders in 2023.
In his lone season with the Chargers, he led a special teams unit that made significant improvement from 2020 to 2021 in the kicking and return game. Under Swinton, LA improved from 29th in the league in field goal percentage (72.7) to ninth in 2021 (88.9 percent), in large part to the mid-season acquisition of K Dustin Hopkins, who made 18-of-20 (90.0 percent) field goals after joining the Chargers in Week 8…In the kickoff return game, Swinton helped improve the Chargers from the 15th best average in the NFL in 2020 (22.0) to the fourth best average in the NFL in 2021 (25.0), led by the mid-season acquisition of Andre Roberts, who averaged 32.8 yards per kick return after joining the Chargers in Week 8, the second best mark in the league.
Swinton also spent a short stint of his career on the offensive side of the ball in 2018, serving as an offensive assistant with the Detroit Lions before returning to the special teams ranks with the Cardinals in 2020 as the assistant special teams coach, helping the team improve to the fifth best kickoff coverage in the NFL in 2020 (19.5 opp. avg.).
Swinton served as assistant special teams coach with the Chicago Bears for two seasons (2015, 17), highlighted by the Bears punt return unit posting the third-best average in the NFL in 2017 (10.5 avg.) and K Robbie Gould making a league-best seven field goals from 50+ yards in 2015.
Between his two seasons in Chicago, Swinton got his first opportunity as a special teams coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. During his time in the Bay Area, he helped improve the 49ers kickoff coverage from the 25th fewest average return yards allowed to the fifth fewest return yards allowed in the NFL.
Swinton began his NFL coaching career with the St. Louis Rams in 2009, where he served as a special teams quality control coach from 2009-11 before coaching in the same role with the Chiefs in 2012.
After his lone season with the Chiefs in 2012, Swinton spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos (2013-14) as an assistant special teams coach, helping K Matt Prater to a Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro honors after making 96.2 percent of his field goal attempts (2nd in the NFL), including an NFL-record 64-yard field goal.
PERSONAL: A native of Newport News, Va., Swinton began his coaching career after graduating from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where he was a two-sport athlete, doubling as a star in the secondary and key contributor on the basketball team. After graduation, he took a defensive graduate assistant position at the University of Tennessee, where he helped safety Eric Berry earn All-America honors as a sophomore and second-team All-Southeastern Conference recognition as a freshman. In his second season with the Volunteers in 2008, Tennessee ranked third in the nation in total defense. Swinton is married to Hillary Thomas, and they have one son, Cameron (2).
