Gerald Alexander
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcat Assistant Gerald Alexander Preps for NFL Internship
6/13/2016 9:03:00 AM | Football
Five-year National Football League veteran joins Tampa Bay's staff in July
Bobcat secondary coach Gerald Alexander has made two trips through the NFL during his football career. This July, he'll make a third.
A five-year veteran of the National Football League as a defensive back (2007-11), Alexander made a brief return last spring through the Bill Walsh Minority Internship Program during Tennessee Titans mini-camp. He'll be back this summer, working the first couple weeks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp beginning in mid-July.
"I wouldn't say you get lucky, but the internship is very hard to get," he said. "I was able to do it last year with the Tennessee Titans. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I played (in the NFL), and the relationships I have with some coaches in the NFL."
Those factors intersect in Tampa Bay's current special teams coach Nate Kaczor. "I've known him since I was playing, he was actually the assistant special teams coach when I was playing for the Jaguars in 2009," Alexander said. "It's just building a relationship with guys like that and asking questions and getting involved." Kaczor was with the Titans a year ago, when Alexander interned there.
Already well-traveled at this early stage in his coaching career, Alexander said that has exposed him to a wide range of positive influences. Since his NFL career ended, he has worked as a volunteer high school coach, as a graduate assistant at Washington and Arkansas State, and as secondary coach at Indiana State.
"My experience at Washington with (UW secondary coach) Jimmy Lake, the way he teaches technique, the clear and concise way he delivers information," Alexander said, "and my experience as a player with the different coaches I've been around, that has really molded my coaching philosophy. Now working with the new DB coach at Tampa Bay (Brett Maxie), that's why opportunities like this are important."
Last spring's internship with the Titans has Alexander excited for the depth of the experience he'll gain this summer. "They let me coach," he said of his time in Tennessee. "They showed me exactly what they do (in individual drills) then let me go out and coach, they let me sit in on coaches meetings and watch them review film, see the things they're talking about in their defensive scheme, see how things run. Just to be around those guys, ask questions, they treat (interns) just like guys on the staff."
Former Bobcat linebacker and last year's MSU linebackers coach Jody Owens also landed a spot in the internship program. Currently a graduate assistant at Nevada, Owens will work with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Alexander will spend nearly two weeks with the Bucs before returning to MSU for his first season as Montana State's secondary coach. Bobcat fall practices begin on August 6.
#GoCatsGo
A five-year veteran of the National Football League as a defensive back (2007-11), Alexander made a brief return last spring through the Bill Walsh Minority Internship Program during Tennessee Titans mini-camp. He'll be back this summer, working the first couple weeks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp beginning in mid-July.
"I wouldn't say you get lucky, but the internship is very hard to get," he said. "I was able to do it last year with the Tennessee Titans. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I played (in the NFL), and the relationships I have with some coaches in the NFL."
Those factors intersect in Tampa Bay's current special teams coach Nate Kaczor. "I've known him since I was playing, he was actually the assistant special teams coach when I was playing for the Jaguars in 2009," Alexander said. "It's just building a relationship with guys like that and asking questions and getting involved." Kaczor was with the Titans a year ago, when Alexander interned there.
Already well-traveled at this early stage in his coaching career, Alexander said that has exposed him to a wide range of positive influences. Since his NFL career ended, he has worked as a volunteer high school coach, as a graduate assistant at Washington and Arkansas State, and as secondary coach at Indiana State.
"My experience at Washington with (UW secondary coach) Jimmy Lake, the way he teaches technique, the clear and concise way he delivers information," Alexander said, "and my experience as a player with the different coaches I've been around, that has really molded my coaching philosophy. Now working with the new DB coach at Tampa Bay (Brett Maxie), that's why opportunities like this are important."
Last spring's internship with the Titans has Alexander excited for the depth of the experience he'll gain this summer. "They let me coach," he said of his time in Tennessee. "They showed me exactly what they do (in individual drills) then let me go out and coach, they let me sit in on coaches meetings and watch them review film, see the things they're talking about in their defensive scheme, see how things run. Just to be around those guys, ask questions, they treat (interns) just like guys on the staff."
Former Bobcat linebacker and last year's MSU linebackers coach Jody Owens also landed a spot in the internship program. Currently a graduate assistant at Nevada, Owens will work with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Alexander will spend nearly two weeks with the Bucs before returning to MSU for his first season as Montana State's secondary coach. Bobcat fall practices begin on August 6.
#GoCatsGo
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