Tom Bradley (American football coach)
American football player and coach (born 1956) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Mark Bradley (born July 12, 1956) is an American football coach and former collegiate player. He most recently served as the defensive backs coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before joining the Steelers, he was the defensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins football team.[1] Before arriving at UCLA Bradley served as the senior associate head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers football team.[2] He is best known for his four-decade association with Penn State Nittany Lions football as a player and coach. Bradley served as the interim head coach of Penn State following Joe Paterno's dismissal nine games into his 46th season as head coach and left the Penn State program in 2012. Bradley has participated in a remarkable 34 bowl games. He played in four as a player at Penn State, twenty-seven coaching at Penn State, one coaching at West Virginia, and two coaching at UCLA.
Personal information | |
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Born: | (1956-07-12) July 12, 1956 (age 67) Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Career information | |
College: | Penn State |
Career history | |
As a coach: | |
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Head coaching record | |
Career: | 1–3 (.250) |
Bradley has been recognized for his defense's outstanding performances. He was named the Associated Press Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2005[3] and was named Rivals.Com Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2008.[4] Additionally Rivals.com had Bradley ranked as the 2nd best defensive coordinator in the nation before he was named interim head coach in 2011.
From 2004 to 2011 Penn State's defense ranked 3rd in the nation in scoring defense (16.4 ppg) and was 5th in total defense (298.7 ypg). In 2009, the Nittany Lions ranked in the top 15 nationally in the six primary defensive categories. Additionally, from 2004 to 2009 Penn State finished in the top 15 in total and scoring defense. From 2004 through most of the 2011 season, Penn State held 53 of its 88 opponents to 17 points or fewer. 10 of those 53 came in Penn State's illustrious 2009 campaign.
Bradley was inducted into the Cambria County Hall of Fame in 1998,[5] and served as the honorary chair of the Special Olympics in 2006. He was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in May 2014, and is a member of the 2020 Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame class. [6] He was also inducted into the Pittsburgh Athletic Association Hall of Fame in January 2015, where he is one of only four collegiate football coaches to receive this honor.[7]