Bill Sheridan is an American football coach who is currently the inside linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He was a coach for a number of college teams, including Notre Dame and Michigan State. From 2005 to 2008 he was the linebackers coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League. In 2009 was the defensive coordinator

Defensive coordinator

A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

 for the New York Giants.

Personal life

A native of Detroit, Sheridan earned four letters as a linebacker at Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University is a public liberal arts university located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1960, and its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids...

. He graduated from De La Salle High School

De La Salle Collegiate High School

De La Salle Collegiate High School is an all-boys Catholic high school run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Founded in 1926, the school was located on the east side of Detroit before moving to its current location in Warren, Michigan in 1982. The school is dedicated to the Catholic education...

 in Detroit.

Sheridan and his wife, Jaycine, have four children: Joe, Nick, Mark and Natalie. Nick was a quarterback at the University of Michigan from 2008 - 2009.

Coaching career

Sheridan's coaching career began in 1981 in Shrine High School in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he was the football coach until 1984. In 1987 he moved to the college level and became the linebacker coach for Maine, followed by Cincinnati and Army. In 1996, was hired by West Point as the defensive backs coach. He had been on Lloyd Carr

Lloyd Carr

Lloyd H. Carr is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Wolverines compiled a record of 122–40 and won or shared five Big Ten Conference titles...

’s staff at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 the previous three years before his stint with the Giants, serving as both the linebackers coach and then as coach of the defensive line.

Prior to being the defensive coordinator he was the Giants linebackers coach

Linebackers coach

A linebackers coach is a position coach in charge of the linebackers in gridiron football. This role is common in the CFL, NFL, and college football programs. The linebackers coach serves the defense, which is led by the defensive coordinator and works with the players of the three linebacker...

. Sheridan replaced Steve Spagnuolo

Steve Spagnuolo

Steven Christopher Spagnuolo is the current head coach of the St. Louis Rams. He was previously the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants from January 2007 to January 2009, and also served for eight years under defensive coordinator Jim Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles.-Early years:Born...

 after he left to take the head coaching position with the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

. Sheridan had been the linebackers coach for the Giants for the previous four seasons after his hiring in 2005. Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin

Tom Coughlin

Thomas Richard Coughlin is an American football coach who is currently head coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League . Coughlin has led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII. Coughlin was also the inaugural head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, serving from 1995–2002 and...

 promoted Sheridan over secondary coach Peter Giunta

Peter Giunta

Peter Giunta is an American football coach . He currently serves as defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator Perry Fewell and head coach Tom Coughlin for the New York Giants. Giunta has also served as defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 1998–2000, succeeding the retiring Bud...

. He was fired on January 4, 2010 after the Giants Defense slipped as the team dropped 8 of their last 11 games and allowed 40 points on five different occasions a franchise record.

On January 19, 2010, Sheridan was hired by the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

to coach their inside linebackers.