Bob Slowik joined the Redskins coaching staff on Jan. 21, 2010.
Slowik has coached both on the professional and collegiate level for more than three decades. He enters his 18th season as an NFL assistant and spent four seasons (2005-08) working under Shanahan with the Denver Broncos.
Slowik originally joined the Broncos as defensive backs coach (2005-06), before being promoted to the team’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2007. The following season (2008) he served solely as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator.
Slowik has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL for 10 seasons, working in that capacity for Denver (2007-08), Green Bay (2004), Cleveland (1999) and Chicago (1993-98). Under his direction, six players have earned a total of 11 Pro Bowl appearances.
“Bob is someone who I have worked with for several years and he has a great knowledge of the defensive side of the ball,” Shanahan said. “He has been very successful as both a position coach and a coordinator in this league. He will be instrumental in working with our defensive backs.”
From 2005-07, Slowik coached cornerback Champ Bailey and safety John Lynch, who earned Pro Bowl appearances in each of those three seasons. Bailey, who twice earned All-Pro honors under Slowik, recorded 21 interceptions and tied for the league high with three interceptions returned for touchdowns over that span.
As the Broncos’ defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach in 2007, Slowik’s unit tied for third in the league with 34 forced fumbles, a total that was the franchise’s highest in 17 seasons.
Slowik coached a Broncos defensive backfield in 2006 that was anchored by Bailey, who finished second in the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year voting after tying for the NFL lead with 10 interceptions and leading the league with 11 takeaways.
During his first year as Broncos defensive backs coach in 2005, Slowik’s group helped the team post a 13-3 record, win the AFC West title and advance to the AFC Championship Game.
Denver totaled its most interceptions (20) in four seasons and was led in that category by Bailey, who had eight interceptions to tie for fourth in the NFL. Bailey was named an Associated Press All-Pro for the second consecutive year while he and Lynch represented Slowik’s secondary in the Pro Bowl.
In four seasons (2000-03) coaching Green Bay’s defensive backs, the Packers recorded the highest takeaway total (116) in the NFL from 2001-03. The 2002 Packers defense led the league with 45 takeaways, while the 2001 unit tied for the NFL’s second-highest takeaway total with 39.
Under Slowik’s guidance, Packers safety Darren Sharper earned two Pro Bowl and Associated Press All-Pro selections (2000 and 2002). Sharper earned Pro Bowl honors and was named All-Pro in 2000 when he posted a career-best nine interceptions to lead the NFL and become the first Packer in 38 years to accomplish that feat.
In the five seasons Slowik coached on the Packers’ defensive staff, Sharper accumulated 31 interceptions for the top mark in the NFL during that period.
Before working one year as the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator during their 1999 expansion season when he directed the league’s No. 11 pass defense, he spent six years (1993-98) as the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator. In addition to his duties as defensive coordinator, Slowik coached the Bears’ secondary during his first three years in Chicago and instructed their linebackers from 1996-97.
He spent the 1992 season as a defensive assistant with the Dallas Cowboys, primarily working with the nickel defense. Dallas won Super Bowl XXVII while leading the NFL in total defense and limiting offenses to a league-low 27.2 percent success rate on third-down attempts. The Cowboys’ pass defense ranked No. 5 in the NFL (167.9 ypg.) that year.
Before entering the NFL, Slowik served as a college assistant for 14 seasons. Slowik coached outside linebackers at East Carolina University (1990-91) and helped the 1991 Pirates to an 11-1 record and a final national ranking of No. 9, both tops in school history.
Prior to working as Rutgers’ secondary coach from 1984-89, Slowik held the same assignment at Drake University in 1983. He was a part-time defensive assistant at the University of Florida from 1979-82, where his wife, Carol, was the head women’s track coach. Slowik worked on the Gators’ coaching staff with Shanahan from 1980-82.
A two-year starting cornerback at the University of Delaware, Slowik helped the Blue Hens to a 16-6 mark in his final two seasons and a trip to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs as a senior.
He began his coaching career in 1978 as a graduate assistant at Delaware and remained in that position for one year.
Born May 16, 1954, in Pittsburgh, Slowik prepped at Baldwin High School in Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Carol, have four children: Ryan, Andrea, Bobby and Steven.
