Scott Booker is in his fourth season with the Titans and in his second season as safeties coach. He arrived in Tennessee in 2018 as a defensive assistant following 15 years of college coaching experience.
In 2020, safety Kevin Byard led the team and set a career high with 111 tackles, while second-year safety Amani Hooker emerged as a playmaker for the defense, tying for the team lead with four interceptions. As a unit, the Titans defense ranked seventh in the NFL with 15 interceptions, which was most by the Titans since 2012.
In 2019, Booker helped Byard and Kenny Vaccaro solidify themselves as one of the NFL's top safety duos. Each safety started all 16 games, a first for the team since 2010. Byard's five interceptions tied for the second-highest total among all NFL safeties, and only four teams had more interceptions from their safeties than the six combined from Byard and Vaccaro during the regular season. In the playoffs, Byard and Vaccaro each notched an interception in a divisional round win at Baltimore.
As a defensive assistant focused on the safeties in 2018, Booker helped Byard accumulate four interceptions and worked to acclimate Vaccaro to the Titans defense after the veteran was added during training camp. The Titans ranked sixth in the NFL in passing defense (216.9 yards per game), and they ranked eighth in the league with an opponent passer rating of 88.4.
Prior to joining the Titans, Booker coached safeties and special teams for Nebraska in 2017.
Booker spent seven years at Notre Dame, first as an offensive intern from 2010-11 and then as tight ends and special teams coordinator from 2012-16. During his time in South Bend, the Fighting Irish participated in six bowl games, including the 2012 BCS National Championship Game and the 2015 Fiesta Bowl. In 2012, tight end Tyler Eifert won the John Mackey Award and was a consensus first wteam All-American. Eifert, along with tight ends Ben Koyack and Troy Niklas, were all drafted in the NFL after playing under Booker.
On special teams under Booker's watch, kicker Kyle Brindza set Notre Dame career records for field goals (57), field-goal attempts (81) and 50-yard field goals (four), while also establishing the top three single-season point totals by a kicker in Irish history. From 2015-16, Booker's special teams units scored six touchdowns, including four in 2015, which was the most by a Notre Dame team since 2000. The previous year (2014), Notre Dame led the nation in blocked kicks.
Booker was the secondary coach at Western Kentucky in 2009 after playing and coaching under former Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees at Kent State. After playing in the secondary for the Golden Flashes when Pees was the head coach, he joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant from 2003-04 and then served as the secondary coach from 2005-08. In that time, he developed a pair of NFL Draft picks in Jack Williams and Usama Young and helped Kent State rank first or second in the MAC in pass efficiency defense, pass defense and interceptions in 2006.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native was a four-year letter winner for the Golden Flashes from 1999 to 2002, and he was named to the MAC all-academic team in 2001. He earned his bachelor's in business administration from Kent State in 2003, and his master's in sport studies in 2006.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have one daughter, Morgan.
Scott Booker's Coaching Timeline:
2020-21: Safeties, Tennessee Titans
2018-19: Defensive Assistant, Tennessee Titans
2017: Safeties and Special Teams Coordinator, Nebraska
2012-16: Tight Ends and Special Teams Coordinator, Notre Dame
2010-11: Offensive Intern, Notre Dame
2009: Secondary, Western Kentucky
2005-08: Defensive Backs, Kent State
2003-04: Graduate Assistant, Kent State
