Temple University Athletics
PHIL ZACHARIAS NAMED TEMPLE DEFENSIVE LINE COACH
8.4.05 | Football
PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple University Department of Athletics today announced that Phil Zacharias has been named defensive line coach. A native of Sewickley, PA, he arrives in Owl Country with 23 seasons of coaching experience, including the last three years as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens.
"We are very fortunate to find a coach with the skill and experience of Phil Zacharias," said head coach Bobby Wallace. "He has a proven record of performance at both the collegiate and professional levels.
"It's not by accident that Phil has coached many great players. It is a tribute to his ability to communicate effectively and to instill disciplined, aggressive football. The defensive line is a strength of this football team. I am very pleased to place the unit under his direction."
Zacharias, 46, has spent his coaching career on the defensive side of the ball and with special teams. He joined the Ravens in 2002 as a defensive line assistant and coached outside linebackers in 2003 before serving as defensive assistant last year. In 2003, LB Terrell Suggs was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and LBs Peter Boulware and Adalius Thomas both made the Pro Bowl, Thomas as a special teamer. In 2004, the Ravens ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense and had four defensive players elected to the Pro Bowl (Suggs, SS Ed Reed, LB Ray Lewis and CB Chris McAlister).
Prior to his move into the NFL ranks, Zacharias spent seven years at Stanford, from 1995 to 2001, directing defensive ends and special teams under Tyrone Willingham. Four out of the seven seasons, he coached a Pac-10 leader in sacks. Under his leadership, the Cardinal ranked second nationally in punt returns (2001) and kickoff returns (1995). In addition, Zacharias tutored first team All-America kick returner Luke Powell and Lombardi Award finalist Kailee Wong.
Zacharias launched his coaching career at Georgetown (KY) College in 1981 as a secondary coach before moving to Saint Paul College in Virginia, where he monitored defensive backs from 1982-84. He also served as an assistant at North Carolina (graduate assistant, 1985), Morehead State (defensive coordinator, 1988; outside linebackers and special teams, 1987; strength and outside linebackers, 1986), Eastern Michigan (outside linebackers, 1989-90), Rutgers (outside linebackers, 1991-93) and Asbury Park (NJ) HS (defensive coordinator, 1994).
Zacharias was a four-year letterwinner at Salem College (WV), where he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and health in 1981 before receiving his master's in education at Georgetown College. He attended Quaker Valley HS in Leetsdale, PA, where he played football, baseball and ran track.
