Ken Zampese


Kenneth Zampese is an American football quarterbacks coach for the Washington Football Team of the National Football League. Zampese began his coaching career at his alma mater, the University of San Diego, and has held a variety of college and professional coaching positions.

Family background

Zampese's father, Ernie Zampese, spent 36 years as a coach in the NFL, spending time with the New York Jets, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, and both the Los Angeles Rams and St. Louis Rams. Ernie Zampese is known best for his role on the Chargers' offensive coaching staff in the 1970s and 1980s, when he helped engineer the famed "Air Coryell" offense. The "Air Coryell" offense—still considered one of the best passing offenses in NFL history—featured Hall of Famers Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow, along with John Jefferson and Wes Chandler. These dynamic players operated in a scheme that led the league in passing yards an NFL-record six consecutive seasons.
He attended the University of San Diego from 1985 to 1988, where he played on the football team as a wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner. He was also a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity.

Career

Early coaching

Zampese began his NFL coaching career in 1998 as an offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles under head coach Ray Rhodes. In 1999, Rhodes became head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and Zampese followed. He again worked as offensive assistant, mentored by quarterbacks coach Mike McCarthy. Packer quarterbacks of that era were Brett Favre, Matt Hasselbeck and Aaron Brooks.

St. Louis Rams

Zampese joined the St. Louis Rams in 2000 as an offensive assistant under head coach Mike Martz. He was promoted the following season to WRs coach, and again the next season to WRs coach/passing game coordinator. During his stint in St. Louis, Zampese assisted Martz with the passing game of what became known as "The Greatest Show on Turf" – a nickname for the Rams' high-powered, record-setting offense. It was here that he gained additional exposure to the "3-Digit" passing system, pioneered by his father and expanded to new heights under Martz.
Quarterback Kurt Warner, Hall of Fame RB Marshall Faulk, and WRs Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl made up what is widely considered the most prolific offense in NFL history.
Although "The Greatest Show on Turf" began its record-setting run a year prior to Zampese's arrival in St. Louis – the 1999 Super Bowl XXXIV Rams' Super Bowl championship season – it lasted three seasons, and he was with the Rams for the final two seasons of the run.

Cincinnati Bengals

Zampese joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 as quarterbacks coach at a time when the team was searching for a quarterback to lead the franchise. He aided in the scouting and evaluation of the quarterbacks in the 2003 NFL Draft, as the team used its No. 1 overall pick to select 2002 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer of Southern California. On September 15, 2017, Zampese was fired by the Bengals after the team started the season 0–2 and did not score a single touchdown.

Cleveland Browns

On January 12, 2018, Zampese was hired by the Cleveland Browns as quarterbacks coach, reuniting him with Browns head coach and former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. After the 2018 season, during which Jackson was fired, he was not retained by new head coach Freddie Kitchens.

Atlanta Legends

In the 2019 AAF season, the Atlanta Legends were plagued by various offensive coaching resignations, including head coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Michael Vick before the season, and quarterbacks coach/play caller Rich Bartel after just three games. Zampese was eventually hired by the Legends to direct the offense starting with the fourth game against the Arizona Hotshots.

Washington Football Team

In 2020, Zampese joined the Washington Football Team as their quarterbacks coach.