CARDS: Topps 1982, Topps 1986, Pro Set 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 1/17/22 RECEIVED: 2/7/22 (21 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
- Jim Haslett played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1975-’78.
- Played LB, DE, and P for the Crimson Hawks.
- Dominant player who etched his name in the school’s record books.
- Over 4 years had 35 sacks, 412 tackles, and 13 fumble recoveries.
- Selected in the 2nd round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
- Jim hit the ground running and in his first contest notched a team leading 17 tackles.
- In rookie year had 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries playing at LILB.
- Alongside fellow Bills players Fred Smerlas and Shane Nelson, they formed the nucleus of the defense’s ‘Bermuda Traingle’ unit.
- An aggressive player and big hitter, Jim recorded over 100 tackles 5 times in his career.
- He’d play 7 seasons in Buffalo, starting 86 games posting 7.5 sacks, 11 fumble recoveries, and 6 interceptions.
- In 1987 he came back for 3 games playing for the New York Jets before moving into the coaching ranks.
- After three years working for Buffalo University both as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, Jim moved up to the spring football league circuit.
- He’d coach the Sacramento Surge in 1991 and 1992.
- He parlayed his experience in the World League into a positional coaching job in the NFL with the Raiders as a linebackers coach in 1993.
- After two years there, Jim spent a year with the Saints as their linebacker coach.
- It’d be in 1996 that Haslett experienced his first taste of being a defensive coordinator with the Saints where he saw potent results.
- He’d not be retained by the Saints after they cleaned house in ’97, so he spent the next 3 years as the DC of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- The Saints cleaned house again in 2000, and brought Haslett back to be head coach that year.
- Jim led the Saints to their first playoff win that year.
- He’d be fired after a tumultuous 2005 season, one in which the team cratered thanks in part to having to relocate temporarily from Hurricane Katrina to San Antonio.
- Haslett then was defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2006-’08.
- Jim replaced Scott Linehan as interim head coach in 2008.
- In 2009, Haslett was head coach of the UFL ’09 Florida Tuskers.
- From 2010 to ’14 Haslett served as defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins.
- After a consulting gig with Penn State in 2015, Jim served as linebackers coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2016-’18.
- That’d lead to an inside linebacking coach gig with the Titans in 2020 and 2021.
- He then served as head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL in 2023 finishing with a 7-3 record and a playoff berth.
- Unfortunately after the league merged with the USFL, the Sea Dragons were not retained.
| TAC | SAC | FUM |
|---|---|---|
| N/a | 7.5 | 12 |
| INT | YDS | AVG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 94 | 15.6 | 0 |
| W | L | T | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | 61 | 0 | .435 |
| W | L | T | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 |
| W | L | T | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
ACCOLADES:
- NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year 1979
- IUP Athletics Hall of Fame 1996
- NFL Coach of the Year 2000
- UFL09 Coach of the Year 2009
- College Football Hall of Fame
NOTES:
Jim is one of the many members of the World League pipeline working his way up from the coaching ranks after his playing career ended.