Name: Karl Dorrell
Title: Wide Receivers
College: UCLA
NFL: Fourth Season
Dolphins: First Season

Coach Dorrell Photo Gallery

Karl Dorrell was named to the Dolphins’ coaching staff on January 24, 2008. He comes to the team following a five-year stint as the head coach at UCLA (2003-07).

During Dorrell’s time heading up the Bruins’ program, the school went 35-27 and appeared in a bowl game all five seasons. In 2005, UCLA went 10-2, recorded a victory over Northwestern in the Sun Bowl and finished with a No. 13 national ranking in the USA Today Coaches poll, and No. 16 by the Associated Press. For the team’s performance that year, Dorrell was named the Pac-10 Conference co-Coach of the Year. Before that, he was wide receivers coach with the Denver Broncos from 2000-02. In Denver, Rod Smith’s first two career Pro Bowl selections coincided with Dorrell’s first two years with the team. In fact, Smith surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark all three years that Dorrell was there, and also attained the 100-catch plateau the first two seasons. In addition, Ed McCaffrey went over the 100-catch and 1,000-yard receiving barriers as well in 2000, as the pair combined for 201 receptions, 2,919 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns that year.

Prior to his stint with the Broncos, Dorrell had been an assistant at the collegiate level for the previous 12 seasons, including seven years as an offensive coordinator. This consisted of positions at UCLA (graduate assistant, 1988), Central Florida (wide receivers, 1989), Northern Arizona (offensive coordinator/wide receivers, 1990-91), Colorado (wide receivers, 1992-93; offensive coordinator/wide receivers, 1995-98), Arizona State (wide receivers, 1994) and Washington (offensive coordinator/wide receivers, 1999). Overall in Dorrell’s 17 seasons as a head coach and an assistant coach at the collegiate level, the teams with which he coached put together 10 winning records and made 12 bowl appearances. He also worked with the Broncos’ staff during training camp in 1993 and 1999 as part of the NFL’s Minority Coaching Fellowship program.

Dorrell played five years as a receiver at UCLA (1982-86) and during that time he totaled 108 receptions for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns. He grew up in San Diego where he attended Helix High School. He and his wife, Kim, have a son, Chandler, and a daughter, Lauren.