Carlos Polk

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Carlos Polk
refer to caption
Polk with the San Diego Chargers in 2007
Dallas Cowboys
Position:Assistant special teams coach
Personal information
Born: (1977-02-22) February 22, 1977 (age 48)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:262 lb (119 kg)
Career information
High school:Guilford (Rockford, Illinois)
College:Nebraska (1996–2000)
NFL draft:2001: 4th round, 112th pick
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:74
Pass deflections:
1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Carlos Devonn Polk (born February 22, 1977) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the assistant special teams coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers, and Grossmont College.

Polk played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL draft. He played for 8 seasons in the NFL with the Chargers and Dallas Cowboys.

Early life

Polk attended Guilford High School in Rockford, Illinois, where he was a standout linebacker for the Vikings football team. As a senior, he recorded 152 tackles, 13 quarterback sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 blocked kicks and one interception.

He finished as one of the all-time leading tacklers in the state of Illinois high school history, with 453 career tackles, while also tallying 10 fumble recoveries, 7 blocked kicks, 5 interceptions and 30 tackles for loss. He received All-conference (three times), All-state, USA Today

All-American and Northern Illinois Conference-9 Defensive Player of Year honors. He also practiced basketball
.

Playing career

College

Polk accepted a football scholarship from the

national championship
. He appeared in 12 games, posting 32 tackles (6 for loss) and one sack.

As a sophomore, he appeared all 13 games, making 22 tackles (5 for loss), one pass defensed, 2 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception.

As a junior, he became a starter at

middle linebacker
, registering 83 tackles (second on the team), 12 tackles for loss (second on the team), 6.5 sacks (second on the team) and 21 quarterback hurries (led the team).

As a senior, he led the team with 90 tackles, while making 9 tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hurries (second on the team), one interception and 5 passes defensed. He finished his college career with 227 tackles (14th all-time in school history), 32 tackles for loss (9th all-time in school history) and 10 sacks.

In 2010, he was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.[1]

National Football League

Pre-Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split
Wonderlic
6 ft 2 in
(1.88 m) 		251 lb
(114 kg) 		4.73 s 1.10 s 2.73 s 22
All values from the 2001 NFL Combine[2]

San Diego Chargers

Polk was selected by the

special teams, finishing with 4 tackles after being placed on the injured reserve list with a torn rotator cuff injury on November 14.[4][5]

In 2002, he was voted by teammates as the Chargers Special Teams Player of the Year…, after leading the team with 13 tackles. He also registered his first-career safety and first-career blocked kick. In 2003, he was voted as the Chargers co-Special Teams Player of Year, after tying for the team lead with 16 tackles.

In 2004, he was declared inactive in the first game with a shoulder injury, he played in the second game against the New York Jets, only to be placed on the injured reserve list with a dislocated left shoulder on September 21.[6] In 2005, he suffered an Achilles injury in the final off-season coaching session and was placed on the injured reserve list on July 28.[7]

In 2006, he filled-in for a suspended

special teams tackles (second on the team) and received the team's Ed Block Courage Award.[9]

In 2007, he started two games at

special teams tackles.[10] At the end of the year, he shared the team's Most Inspirational Player Award with Philip Rivers. Polk was released on August 30, 2008.[11][12]

Dallas Cowboys

On October 16, 2008, Polk was signed as a

special teams
tackles (sixth on the team), one forced fumble and one blocked punt. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

NFL career statistics

Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2001 SDG 6 0 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002 SDG 15 0 17 16 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2003 SDG 16 0 22 19 3 0.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2004 SDG 1 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2006 SDG 16 4 45 35 10 2.0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007 SDG 10 2 24 20 4 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
2008 DAL 10 0 8 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
74 6 121 101 20 4.0 7 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0

Playoffs

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2006 SDG 1 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Coaching career

Grossmont College

In 2009, Polk began his coaching career at Grossmont College as their assistant special teams coach.

San Diego Chargers

In 2010, Polk was hired by the San Diego Chargers as their assistant special teams coach.

Dallas Cowboys

In 2013, Polk was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as a coaching intern under head coach Jason Garrett.[14]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 2014, Polk was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their assistant special teams coach.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

In 2019, Polk returned an was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as their assistant special teams coach, reuniting with head coach Jason Garrett.[15] In January 2020, he was not retained by the Cowboys new head coach Mike McCarthy.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On January 31, 2021, Polk was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as their assistant special teams coach under coordinator Brian Schneider and head coach Urban Meyer.

Chicago Bears

On February 11, 2022, Polk was hired as the assistant special teams coach by the Chicago Bears under new head coach Matt Eberflus and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.

Dallas Cowboys (third stint)

On February 10, 2025, the Dallas Cowboys hired Polk to serve as their assistant special teams coach under head coach Brian Schottenheimer.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Polk, Alexander Headline Hall of Fame Class". Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Carlos Polk NFL Combine". NFLdraftscout.com.
  3. ^ "2001 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  4. ^ "Chargers by position: Linebacker". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  5. ^ "Dwight proves tough to replace". November 15, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Coach regrets not challenging T.O. TD". September 21, 2004. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "Williams Rejoins NFL's Substance-Abuse Program". Los Angeles Times. June 17, 2005. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "Suspended Merriman says he's not a steroid cheat". November 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "From Nebraska to the NFL: Carlos Polk". Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Goodell says no deal ahead for network". Los Angeles Times. November 21, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "Chargers Release Guilford Grad". Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  12. ^ "Chargers cut list". August 30, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  13. ^ "Hurd (ankle) placed on IR; Cowboys sign Polk". October 17, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cowboys, Chris Boniol part ways". January 8, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "Cowboys hire Carlos Polk as assistant special teams coach". February 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "Cowboys fill QB coach gig with familiar name; Carlos Polk joins Schottenheimer's staff". dallasnews.com. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
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