Special teams coordinator John Fassel is in his first season with the Titans and his 21st season coaching in the NFL. Prior to joining the Titans, he spent five years as special teams coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys. He also coordinated special teams for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2012-19) and Oakland Raiders (2009-11).

Fassel arrived in Dallas in 2020, and from that point through the end of the 2024 campaign, the Cowboys consistently ranked among the NFL leaders in several special teams categories. They were fifth in gross punting average (48.3 yards per punt), fourth in net punting average (43.2 net yards per punt), second in kickoff return average (26.4 yards per return), first in total kick/punt return touchdowns (five), first in field goals made (168) and third in kickoff touchback percentage (74.0).

Three Cowboys players coached by Fassel earned a total of six Pro Bowl selections: punter Bryan Anger (2021 and 2023), returner KaVontae Turpin (2022 and 2024) and kicker Brandon Aubrey (2023 and 2024). Each member of the trio also enjoyed Associated Press All-Pro recognition under Fassel, with Anger taking second-team honors in 2021 and 2023, Turpin garnering first-team honors in 2024, and Aubrey named first-team All-Pro in 2023 and second-team All-Pro in 2024.

In 2024, the Cowboys set an all-time NFL record with an average of 32.1 yards per kickoff return (1,091 yards on 34 returns). Turpin averaged a league-best 33.5 yards per kickoff return and scored touchdowns on a 99-yard kickoff return and a 60-yard punt return. Aubrey ranked second in field goals made (40), including a league-high 14 field goals of 50-plus yards. Meanwhile, the team's coverage units ranked 11th in opponent kickoff return average (27.1).

The 2023 season marked the second straight year that the Cowboys signed a kicker in the summer prior to preseason, as Dallas added Aubrey, a former soccer player and USFL kicker, to compete for the kicking job in training camp. Under Fassel, Aubrey set the franchise record for most points in a single season and most points in a first season in NFL history with 157. Aubrey also established the NFL record for consecutive field goals made without a miss to start a career, connecting on 35 straight field goals before his first miss, and led the NFL with 36 made kicks on the year, finishing third in the league with a 94.7 field goal percentage. He became the first Cowboys kicker to win NFC Special Teams Player of the Month (October and December) since Richie Cunningham in 1997 and established a team record with 10 field goals of 50-plus yards on the year, capping off 2023 with a Pro Bowl berth and first-team All-Pro honors.

Anger also had a career year in 2023, earning his second career Pro Bowl nod under Fassel. The punter set single-season franchise records with a 44.9 net average and led the NFL with a 51.4 gross average.

Midway through 2022 training camp, Dallas tried out multiple kickers in Oxnard, Calif., and signed Brett Maher, a veteran kicker who spent 2018 and most of the 2019 season with the Cowboys. Fassel helped Maher have a career season, making 29 of 32 field goals for a career-high 90.6 field goal percentage. Maher's nine 50-plus yard field goals in 2022 were the second most in a season in team history. He also racked up 137 kicking points, second in franchise history and tied for the third-most in the NFL in 2022. One other valuable addition in training camp was Turpin. The rookie wide receiver/return specialist finished the 2022 campaign fifth in punt return average (10.4) and was the only NFL player with a 50-yard kick return and 50-yard punt return. Turpin earned his first Pro Bowl selection and became the first player in Cowboys history to be named to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist.

In 2021, Fassel's special teams unit was one of the most effective groups in the NFL, highlighted by a league-high three blocked punts—two of which were recovered for a touchdown. Fassel's unit also led the NFL with four total blocked kicks (three punts, one PAT) while tallying an NFL-high three special teams touchdowns. Fassel had a major influence in signing Anger in free agency prior to the 2021 season. Under Fassel in 2021, Anger was selected to his first career Pro Bowl after leading the NFL and setting a then-team record with a 44.6 net average, which was also the fourth-highest in NFL history. Anger also established the then-franchise record in gross average (48.4).

In 2020, Fassel helped Dallas secure kicker Greg Zuerlein, a player Fassel coached through his entire tenure with the Rams. Zuerlein was 34-of-41 on field goals and 33-of-36 on extra points, allowing him to set the club record for field goal attempts in a season, tie for the most field goals made and tie for second in single-season points (135). Tony Pollard settled in as the kickoff returner for Dallas, and he tied for second in the league with 32 returns, was fourth with 766 yards and eighth with an average of 23.9 yards-per-return.

In 2019, the Rams special teams unit returned two of the NFL's top specialists in Zuerlein and punter Johnny Hekker. Zuerlein's 24 field goals (24-of-33) tied for fourth in his career, and he connected on all 42 PAT tries. Called on for only 66 punts in 2019, Hekker finished third in the NFL with a 47.4 gross average and seventh with a 42.4 net, along with 22 punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line and a long of 71 yards (second-longest of his career).

Fassel's group continued to flourish in 2018 in all four phases of special teams, despite using multiple kickers and returners during the regular season. Cory Littleton blocked a pair of punts and posted an additional deflected punt en route to earning his first career Pro Bowl selection. It marked the ninth Rams special teams Pro Bowl selection since Fassel took over in 2012. Zuerlein converted a 57-yard game-winning field goal in overtime of the NFC Championship game to send the Rams to the Super Bowl, marking the longest game-winning kick in playoff history.

In 2017, four Rams special teamers were named to the Pro Bowl: returner Pharoh Cooper, Hekker, long snapper Jake McQuaide and Zuerlein. Zuerlein led the league in scoring (158 points) despite playing only 14 games before going on the reserve/injured list.

In 2016, Hekker earned his third trip to the Pro Bowl after setting an NFL record with 51 punts downed inside the 20. He also established an NFL record for single-season net punting average (46.0), breaking the previous record that Hekker himself set in 2013. McQuaide became the first long snapper in franchise history to earn a Pro Bowl berth. From 2013-17, Benny Cunningham averaged 27.1 yards-per-kickoff return, a franchise career record. In addition to his special teams duties, Fassel served as interim head coach for the final three games in 2016.

In 2015, Hekker produced one of the best punting seasons in NFL history to earn his second Pro Bowl honor. The fourth-year pro led the NFL in punts (96), gross average (47.9), net average (43.7) and punts downed inside the 20-yard line (41), becoming the first player to lead the league in all three categories since the NFL began tracking punts inside the 20 in 1976.

In Fassel's 2014 campaign, his units finished among the league's best in several categories. As a team, St. Louis was fifth in net punt average (41.8) and second in punt return average (13.0). The team's net punting average was the third-highest ever by a Rams special teams unit. Individually, Tavon Austin finished fifth in punt return average (11.2) and was an alternate to the Pro Bowl, while Cunningham led the NFC and was fifth in the NFL in kick return average (27.5).

In 2013, Fassel's punt team, set a single-season NFL record for net punting average (44.2) and Hekker was named first-team All-Pro along with his first trip to the Pro Bowl. Zuerlein connected on the first 15 field goal attempts of his career and set a team record with eight field goals from 50-plus yards.

Fassel spent a total of four seasons with the Raiders as assistant special teams coordinator (2008) and special teams coordinator (2009-11). While with the Raiders, his units led the NFL in takeaways, turnover differential and points scored in 2009 and 2010. Under Fassel's tutelage, punter Shane Lechler earned a Pro Bowl spot three consecutive years. In addition, Sebastian Janikowski achieved a single-season career-high 89.7 field goal percentage, missing only three attempts (47, 57 and 66 yards) in 2011. Janikowski also converted the then-third-longest field goal in NFL history, a team-record 61-yarder at Cleveland in December 2009 and tied a then NFL record with a 63-yarder in 2011. Additionally, long snapper Jon Condo earned two Pro Bowl berths.

From 2005 to 2007, Fassel was Baltimore's assistant special teams coach and helped the team to top-10 finishes in punt and kick return average from 2006 to 2007.

From 2003 to 2004, he was the head coach and assistant athletic director at New Mexico Highlands University. Fassel also served six months as the school's interim athletic director and taught undergraduate and graduate courses. He earned a master's degree in athletic administration at Idaho State, where he was a graduate assistant and sports science instructor from 2000 to 2001. In 1999 and 2001, Fassel coached wide receivers and recruited for Bucknell. In Spring 2000, Fassel was the strength & conditioning and wide receivers coach for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.

Fassel played wide receiver at Weber State, graduating in 1999 with a degree in exercise science. He signed as a rookie free agent wide receiver with the Indianapolis Colts.

Fassel is the son of late NFL coach Jim Fassel, who guided the New York Giants to the Super Bowl during the 2000 season. John is a triathlete who has finished three Ironman distance triathlons. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have three daughters: Lilah, Avery and Anna.

JOHN FASSEL'S TIMELINE

COACHING

2025: Special Teams Coordinator – Tennessee Titans

2020-24: Special Teams Coordinator – Dallas Cowboys

2017-19: Special Teams Coordinator – Los Angeles Rams

2016: Interim Head Coach (Three games) – Los Angeles Rams

2012-16: Special Teams Coordinator – St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams

2009-11: Special Teams Coordinator – Oakland Raiders

2008: Assistant Special Teams – Oakland Raiders

2005-07: Assistant Special Teams – Baltimore Ravens

2003-04: Head Coach/Assistant Athletic Director – New Mexico Highlands University

2002: Wide Receivers – Bucknell University

2001: Graduate Assistant – Idaho State University

2000: Strength & Conditioning/Wide Receivers – Amsterdam Admirals