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George Edwards is entering his third season as the Dolphins’ linebackers coach in 2007. He possesses nine seasons as an NFL assistant coach on his résumé, including one as a coordinator.
In Edwards’ first year with the Dolphins, Zach Thomas was selected to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time, as he recorded 166 tackles despite only playing in 14 games. Rookie Channing Crowder, a third-round draft choice, made a tremendous impact on the success of the defense as he started 13 games and registered 90 tackles, the highest total by a Dolphins rookie since 1996 (Thomas, 180). Last year, Thomas was selected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad once again, and Crowder recorded 104 tackles, the second consecutive season in which the pair finished 1-2 on the team’s tackle chart, respectively.
Before joining the Dolphins, Edwards was the linebackers coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2004. That followed a two-year stint with the Washington Redskins, including 2003 as the team’s defensive coordinator. Following the ’03 season, linebacker LaVar Arrington and cornerback Champ Bailey were selected to the NFC Pro Bowl squad. In 2002, Edwards served as the Redskins’ assistant defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, as Arrington accounted for the most productive season of his NFL career with 107 tackles and 11 sacks in earning his second straight Pro Bowl berth. In addition, that year each of the team’s starting linebackers, which also included Jesse Armstead and Jeremiah Trotter, surpassed the 100-tackle plateau.
Edwards began his NFL coaching career with a four-season stint with the Dallas Cowboys (1998-2001), where he tutored the team’s linebackers. Under Edwards’ guidance, Dexter Coakley, a third-round draft choice in 1997, was selected to the Pro Bowl twice over this four-year span (1999, 2001), as he was Dallas’ second-leading tackler all four years.
Before embarking on his NFL coaching career, Edwards held collegiate assistant posts at Georgia (1997), Duke (1996), Appalachian State (1992-95) and Florida (1991). During his one-year tenure at Georgia, Edwards tutored a defensive line which included a pair of freshmen in Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud, both of whom would be selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft. A native of Siler City, N.C., Edwards is a Duke University alumnus, where he was a four-year letterman. He was a two-year special teams captain and an All-ACC honorable mention selection at linebacker in 1989. Edwards and his wife, Jami, have a son, B.J. | 