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Seventeen-year NFL coaching veteran Kevin Spencer enters his first season with the Cardinals after being hired to coach special teams on 1/19/07. Previously with the Pittsburgh Steelers the past five seasons, Spencer was selected as the 2003 NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year by the league’s special teams coaches.
In 2005, Spencer guided the Steelers special teams to one of the best units in the NFL. Pittsburgh posted two punt returns for touchdowns in 2005, marking the second time the team accomplished the feat over the course of his five-year tenure with the Steelers. The unit also ranked as one of the best in net punting average, allowing a 34.5 average for fourth in the AFC.
Punt returner Antwaan Randle El set a team record with four punts for touchdowns during his time with the Steelers (2002-05) while kicker Jeff Reed’s 80.0% (112 of 140) career field goal percentage is good for second in the team’s history (Norm Johnson, 82.7%). Reed kicked five game winning field goals during his time with Spencer and is currently third in Steelers history for most field goals with 112.
Prior to joining the Steelers in 2002, Spencer spent four seasons in the same capacity with the Indianapolis Colts (1998-2001). While at Indianapolis, Spencer worked with former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt, regarded as one of the premiere kickers in the NFL. In 2001, Vanderjagt ranked first in the AFC in scoring (125 points) and finished second in the NFL (127, Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis). During the 2000 season, Vanderjagt connected on 25 of 27 field goals to rank second in the AFC in scoring and tied for fifth in the NFL with 121 points. Under Spencer’s guidance, Vanderjagt was the only player in Colts history to post four straight 100+ point seasons.
Spencer also served three seasons with the Oakland Raiders as the special teams and quality control coach (1995), assistant linebackers coach (1996) and a defensive assistant (1997). He began his NFL coaching career in 1991 as a coaching assistant with the Cleveland Browns.
The Queens, NY native began his coaching career in 1975 as a graduate assistant at the State University of New York, where he coached wrestling and lacrosse. He coached at Detroit Country Day High School (1976-79) in Birmingham, MI, before becoming a graduate assistant at Cornell (1979-80). Spencer then coached for one season at the Gillman School in Baltimore, MD before holding positions as the head freshman coach (1981-85) and offensive coordinator (1986) at Ithaca College. He served five years (1987-91) as the head coach at Wesleyan (CT) University where he compiled a 14-26 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in 1990. While at Wesleyan, Spencer coached current New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini for two seasons (1989-90).
As a collegian, Spencer played football and lacrosse at Springfield (MA) College from 1972-75 and earned a master’s degree from SUNY-Cortland in 1976.
Born November 2, 1953, in Queens, Spencer and his wife, Rosemarie, have two sons Timothy and Jack. | 