Jerry Sullivan enters his third season with the 49ers after being named wide receivers coach/senior assistant on January 25, 2005. Under Sullivan’s direction in 2006, WR Arnaz Battle emerged as a multi-purpose threat, topping his previous career highs with 59 catches for 686 yards and three touchdowns while opening running lanes with his physical style of blocking. Battle’s critical downfield blocking helped pave the way for RB Frank Gore to lead the NFL with 16 rushes for 20 or more yards. Sullivan, a 16-year veteran of the NFL coaching ranks, joined the 49ers after spending the 2004 season as wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins. Sullivan was a member of the Arizona Cardinals’ coaching staff for three seasons (2001-03). In his first two years with the club, Sullivan mentored the team’s wide receivers, where he worked with a group that included WR David Boston. Under Sullivan’s guidance, Boston led the NFL with 1,598 receiving yards on 98 receptions in 2001 and was selected to the first Pro Bowl of his career. In 2003, Sullivan was promoted to offensive coordinator where he worked with rookie wide receiver WR Anquan Boldin, a second-round draft choice that finished third in the league in receptions (101) and receiving yards (1,377) on his way to being named the NFL’s Rookie of the Year as well as a starter on the NFC’s Pro Bowl squad. Sullivan has coached a multitude of Pro Bowl receivers, including San Diego Chargers WR Anthony Miller (1992-93) and WR Tony Martin (1996), Detroit Lions WR Herman Moore (1997-98) and WR Germaine Crowell (1999) and Arizona Cardinals WR David Boston (2001) and WR Anquan Boldin (2003). Sullivan’s NFL coaching career began in 1992 with the San Diego Chargers. Following his five-year term in San Diego, Sullivan coached wide receivers in Detroit from 1997-2000. Prior to his tenure in the Motor City, he coached on the collegiate level from 1971-91, including stints with Texas Tech, South Carolina, Indiana University, Louisiana State University and Ohio State. Sullivan and his wife, Connie, reside in San Jose, CA. The couple has one son, Jon-Eric, who serves as a college scout in the Midwest region as the Green Bay Packers representative for the National Football Scouting Combine. Connie has a daughter, Allison, who resides in Orlando, FL, and a son, Matthew, who works for a wine distribution company in New Orleans, LA. |