Name: John Bonamego
Title: Special Teams Coordinator
College: Central Michigan
NFL: Tenth Season
Dolphins: First Season

Coach Bonamego Photo Gallery

John Bonamego was named the Dolphins’ special teams coordinator on January 28, 2008 following a two-year stint in the same role with the New Orleans Saints. Overall, 2008 will mark Bonamego’s 10th as an assistant in the NFL.

The Saints’ special teams unit proved pivotal in catapulting the club to a 10-6 record and the NFC South crown in Bonamego’s first season of 2006, as it recorded two signature plays during the course of the season. The first occurred in a Monday night game against Atlanta on September 25 – the first game back at the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina – when Curtis Deloach recovered a Steve Gleason blocked punt in the end zone to open the scoring en route to a 23-3 victory as the Saints started 3-0 for just the fifth time in franchise history. Two weeks later against Tampa Bay, rookie Reggie Bush’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown with 4:17 remaining in the contest erased a 21-17 deficit and gave the Saints a 24-21 victory. Prior to his tenure with the Saints, Bonamego tutored the special teams unit with the Green Bay Packers from 2003-05. He got his start in the NFL as assistant special teams coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1999, a spot he held for three seasons before being promoted to special teams coordinator in 2002. In Bonamego’s six seasons heading up a special teams unit, his groups have finished in the top 10 in the NFL in overall special teams rankings under a formula devised by the Dallas Morning News on four occassions. This includes a No. 3 finish by his Jacksonville Jaguars squad of 2002, which blocked four kicks and was second in the league in kickoff coverage. Also that year, punter Chris Hanson was selected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad. In the past six seasons, his units blocked a total of 13 kicks, consisting of seven field goals, four punts and two PATs. They recorded at least one blocked kick in each of those six campaigns. In addition, in Bonamego’s nine previous NFL seasons, the teams with which he has coached have won four divisional titles and advanced to two conference championship games.

Prior to starting his NFL stint, Bonamego held assistant posts at Maine (1988-91), Lehigh (1992) and Army (1993-98). In 1987, he also coached at Mt. Pleasant (Mich.) High School and was a player-coach in Europe with the Verona (Italy) Redskins. A wide receiver and quarterback at Central Michigan, Bonamego earned his degree in health and fitness from the school in 1987. He earned his master’s in physical education from Maine in 1992, and is a graduate of Paw Paw (Mich.) High School. Bonamego and his wife, Paulette, have two sons, Javier and Giovanni, and a daughter, Bellina.