John “Bones” Fassel, 46, is the new special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Fassel is from Anaheim, California and is the son of former NFL head coach Jim Fassel.
Fassel began his coaching career in 1999 as Bucknells wide receivers coach. In 2000, he went to NFL Europe as a strength and conditioning coach for the Amsterdam Admirals.
Fassel transitioned to the NFL in 2005 as the Baltimore Ravens assistant special teams coach. He would remain in that position until 2008 when he took over as the special teams coordinator for the Oakland Raiders.
In his last season in Oakland (2011), he had three players make the Pro Bowl (K Sebastian Janikowski, P Shane Lechler and LS Jon Condo).
His next stop would be with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. (2012-2019) Before Fassel arrived, the Rams were a poor special teams.
During his time with the Rams, he was responsible for the development of kicker Greg Zuerlein, punter Johnny Hekker and long snapper Jake McQuaide.
The three of them made the Pro Bowl seven times and Rams special teams players earned NFC Special teams player of the week awards 15 times under Fassel.
The Rams and Fassel parted ways after the Rams took a step back during the 2019 season that saw the Rams ranked 13th in kick return average and punt return average. They finished 20th in opponent average starting field position after finishing 10th in 2018 and 9th in 2017.
When speaking with the media, Fassel said he has done nothing but watch film since arriving in Dallas. He said that he’s coming into the situation with a “blank” slate for himself and everyone who has been on the team.
Fassel also told the media that they will be super technique driven and keep things simple.
“I think we want a very aggressive mind-set, some very simple schematics. I think it’s important on special teams to keep things simple and make the players comfortable with their assignments,” Fassel said.
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