Kynjee' Cotton (pronounced ken-jay) joined the Miami Dolphins as assistant defensive line coach in 2024.
The 2025 season marks Cotton's second as an NFL coach following 12 years in the collegiate ranks.
In 2024, Cotton helped coach a unit that anchored Miami's top-five defense. The Dolphins ranked fourth in total defense in 2024 (314.4), marking the first top-five finish since they ranked fourth in 2006. Cotton's unit included two team captains as voted by their teammates – defensive tackles Calais Campbell and Zach Sieler. Sieler led Miami's defense with 10.0 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, while also totaling 55 tackles (28 solo), one interception, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He was voted by the South Florida media as the recipient of the Dan Marino MVP award.
Cotton also helped coach 17-year NFL veteran Calais Campbell, who joined the team as a free agent signing in the 2024 offseason and totaled 52 tackles (35 solo) and 12 tackles for loss through 17 games, second behind Sieler in both categories. Campbell was voted by his teammates as the recipient of the Don Shula Leadership Award.
Prior to joining Miami, Cotton spent one season at LSU as a senior defensive analyst. In 2023, the Tigers finished with a 10-3 record and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. had three forced fumbles, tied for the most in the SEC. Perkins earned second-team All-SEC honors that season.
Cotton spent one season at Kennesaw State in 2022, where he helped coach defensive lineman Travis Bell, who earned second-team Phil Steele All-ASUN honors. Bell became the first NFL draft selection in school history when he was selected by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round (218th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Cotton spent three seasons (2019-21) at Samford where he coached defensive ends. In the spring of 2021, Cotton helped Nelson Jordan earn second-team All-Southern Conference honors after leading the team in tackles for loss (7.5) and sacks (4.0).
In 2018, Cotton served as defensive line coach at West Georgia. Cotton spent two seasons (2016-17) as a quality control assistant at North Carolina. Prior to his time in Chapel Hill, Cotton served as the defensive line coach at Birmingham-Southern in 2015. Cotton was a graduate assistant at UAB in 2014 where he worked with the defensive line.
Cotton was a strength and conditioning intern at the University of Alabama during the fall of 2013, where he worked with football, baseball and rowing. Cotton began his coaching career as a student assistant at Alabama State in 2012.
Cotton was a four-year letterman on the defensive line at Alabama State, where he was a team captain and earned second-team All-Southwestern Athletic honors his senior year. He graduated with a degree in physical education.
A Daphne, Alabama native, Cotton is married to his wife, Chatil.
