Donnie Abraham

Nathaniel Donnell Abraham (born October 8, 1973) is an American football coach and former cornerback who is the current defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft.^[1] In his career, he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996–2001) and the New York Jets (2002–2004).

Donnie Abraham

St. Louis Battlehawks
Position:	Defensive coordinator
Personal information
Born:	(1973-10-08) October 8, 1973 (age 51) Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school:	Orangeburg (SC) Wilkinson
College:	East Tennessee State
NFL draft:	1996 / round: 3 / pick: 71
Career history
As a player:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996–2001) New York Jets (2002–2004)
As a coach:
Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake H.S. (2005–2008) Defensive backs coach St. Petersburg (FL) Gibbs H.S. (2009–2010) Head coach Tampa Bay Storm (2011–2012) Defensive backs coach Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake H.S. (2012) Defensive backs coach Clearwater (FL) H.S. (2013–2014) Head coach IMG Academy (2015–2016) Defensive coordinator Illinois (2017) Defensive backs coach Orlando Apollos (2019) Defensive backs coach St. Louis BattleHawks (2023–present) Defensive Coordinator
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowl (2000) NFL interceptions co-leader (1999) PFWA All-Rookie Team (1996)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles: 442 Sacks: 2.0 Forced fumbles: 2 Fumble recoveries: 8 Interceptions: 38 Touchdowns: 5 Stats at Pro Football Reference

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	FF	FR	Yds	TD
1996	TAM	16	12	58	50	8	0.0	5	27	0	21	0	2	3	0
1997	TAM	16	16	54	44	10	0.0	5	16	0	16	0	1	2	0
1998	TAM	13	13	38	32	6	0.0	1	3	0	3	0	2	0	0
1999	TAM	16	16	79	65	14	2.0	7	115	2	55	1	0	0	0
2000	TAM	16	16	57	46	11	0.0	7	82	0	23	1	0	0	0
2001	TAM	15	5	39	29	10	0.0	6	98	0	46	0	1	0	0
2002	NYJ	16	16	53	47	6	0.0	4	49	0	23	0	0	0	0
2003	NYJ	8	2	11	11	0	0.0	1	12	0	12	0	0	0	0
2004	NYJ	16	16	53	38	15	0.0	2	66	1	66	0	2	39	1
		132	112	442	362	80	2.0	38	468	3	66	2	8	44	1

Playoffs

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	FF	FR	Yds	TD
1997	TAM	2	2	5	5	0	0.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1999	TAM	2	2	8	7	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2000	TAM	1	1	3	2	1	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2001	TAM	1	1	4	4	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2002	NYJ	2	2	2	2	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	NYJ	2	2	6	6	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
		10	10	28	26	2	0.0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Life after football

After considering retirement since the 2004 season ended, he finally decided to do so on July 15, 2005.^[2] Although he had two restaurant businesses going in South Carolina, Abrahams was searching for a post-playing occupation, and during his playing years he swore to himself that he would never become a coach. However, while on the sidelines of his oldest son's youth football practice, a local high school coach, whose son played on the same team as Abraham's, approached him about helping out his team. Before long, Abraham became the head coach at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg.^[3]

Abraham guided Gibbs to its first district title in 2009 but resigned after a 3–7 season in 2010. He was defensive backs coordinator (2011–2012) at Tampa Bay Storm and later (2012) at East Lake High School. In 2013, he was the head coach of the Clearwater High School football team and resigned in 2015.^[4] He was (2015–2017) the defensive coordinator at IMG Academy, in Bradenton, Florida.^[5] On February 15, 2017, he was named defensive assistant coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini football, joining Head Coach Lovie Smith's coaching team.^[6][7] Abraham left the Illinois program in the summer of 2018.

In November 2018, Abraham joined Steve Spurrier's Orlando Apollos coaching staff as defensive backs coach.^[8]

In June 2022, Abraham joined Anthony Becht's coaching staff as the Defensive Coordinator of St. Louis.^[9]

Personal life

Abraham's son, Micah, played college football at Marshall and was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts.^[10]

References

1. "1996 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
2. "Jets CB Abraham decides to retire". National Football League. Hempstead, New York. July 15, 2005. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
3. "Life After Football: Donnie Abraham". Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
4. "Coaches".
5. "Football Academy - Football Program | IMG Academy".
6. "NFL veteran Donnie Abraham joins Illinois' coaching staff". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. February 16, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
7. "Q&A with ex-Bucs CB Donnie Abraham, now coaching at Illinois". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
8. Ruiz, Stephen (November 8, 2018). "Steve Spurrier's first staff with Apollos includes Super Bowl champions, former Gators". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
9. "XFL Announces Key Football Hires and Coaching Staff for its Eight Teams". www.xfl.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
10. Schultheis, Luke (April 27, 2024). "Colts select Marshall DB Micah Abraham with 201st pick in 6th round during 2024 NFL Draft". Stampede Blue. Retrieved December 17, 2024.