STANFORD, Calif. – Kris Richard has been named Stanford’s Willie Shaw Director of Defense and defensive backs coach, as announced by Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football Tavita Pritchard. A 13-year NFL coaching veteran, Richard returns to the West Coast where he played collegiately and in the NFL.
"Kris Richard is a proven winner and an exceptional defensive mind who has coached at the highest levels of this game,” noted Pritchard. “His ability to develop elite defensive backs in the NFL is well-documented, but what really excites me is his background as a coordinator who builds relentless, attacking defenses. Kris brings a championship pedigree and an intensity that will shape our defense into a physical, run-and-hit unit that our guys will take immense pride in. He is a tremendous communicator who connects with people and demands excellence, and I am confident he will build a defense that reflects the energy and toughness that will embody our team."
Richard has extensive NFL coaching experience, including three seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. He also played cornerback in the NFL for six seasons, including stints with the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers.
“My family, the defensive staff, and I are incredibly grateful to join the Stanford community,” said Richard. "Thank you for welcoming us with open arms. We are all eager to get to work cultivating a championship culture and mindset. Go Card!”
Richard most recently was the defensive backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2024 season. Following their Week 12 bye, the Jaguars held their opponents to just 19.8 points per game over the final six weeks of the season, while their secondary held opposing passers to just 219 passing yards per game, down nearly 60 yards per game from their first 11 games of the season.
Prior to his time in Jacksonville, Richard spent two seasons on staff with the New Orleans Saints, including one season as the co-defensive coordinator in 2022. The Saints had one of the best secondaries in the NFL, allowing just 184.4 passing yards per game in 2022, second-fewest in the league, while holding teams to the ninth-fewest points per game at 20.3.
While working exclusively with the defensive backs in 2021, New Orleans tied for sixth in the NFL in interceptions with 18, with four different players recording three interceptions. One of those was former Cardinal great Paulson Adebo, who ranked second in the NFL among rookies in interceptions. The Saints defense allowed the fourth-fewest points per game that season at just 19.7, including five games allowing fewer than 15 points.
Over two seasons in New Orleans, five defensive players earned Pro Bowl nods, including defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and J.T. Gray in 2021.
Richard coached defensive backs and was the passing game coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He took over defensive play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and the entire defense immediately grew under his watch. The Cowboys finished inside the top-10 in fewest yards allowed both seasons, and both years allowed fewer than 20.5 points per game, ranking inside the top-11 in both seasons, including sixth-best in the league in 2018. Dallas reached the postseason following the 2018 season and won a playoff game for the first time since 2014.
With the Cowboys, Richard was instrumental in the development of Byron Jones, who was a former first round selection by the Cowboys but struggled as a safety during his first three seasons in the NFL. He transitioned to cornerback in 2018 and immediately earned a Pro Bowl nomination and was named Second Team All-Pro. In two seasons playing for Richard, Jones never allowed quarterbacks to complete more than 55% of passes in his direction, and following the 2019 season, Jones went on to sign with the Miami Dolphins in free agency, making him at the time the highest-paid cornerback in the league.
Richard was with the Seattle Seahawks for eight seasons, beginning in 2010 as an assistant defensive backs coach before spending three seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator (2015-17). Richard helped form Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defensive secondary, featuring players such as former Stanford great Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Brandon Browner, Byron Maxwell, and Shaq Griffin.
As defensive coordinator, Richard took over following a loss in Super Bowl XLIX and upheld Seattle’s lockdown defense. The Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the league (17.3) and had the second-ranked defense in the league in terms of fewest yards allowed per game (291.8). Over three years, Richard’s Seattle defense finished inside the top-three in fewest points allowed twice and top-five in fewest yards allowed twice. In his final season in that role in 2017, Seattle finished tied for ninth in the league in turnovers forced (25).
While serving as the team’s defensive backs coach from 2012-14, Richard’s secondary was the most feared in the NFL. Seattle allowed under 16 points per game in all three seasons, with Sherman and Thomas earning three-consecutive First Team All-Pro selections. In total, his secondary earned eight All-Pro honors from the Associated Press.
Led by the defense, Seattle made two Super Bowl appearances with Richard on staff, first following the 2013 season, where the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII, the franchise’s first Super Bowl win. The following year, Seattle won the NFC again and made Super Bowl XLIX, becoming the first team in a decade to play in back-to-back Super Bowls.
Richard began his coaching career at USC as a graduate assistant from 2008-09, returning to his Alma Mater where he played defensive back from 1998-2001. As a Trojan, he recorded eight career interceptions, including six in 1999, tied for second-most in the Pac-10. He scored four defensive touchdowns in his career and helped USC earn a national AP ranking as high as No. 8 in the country.
Drafted in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Seahawks, Richard spent his first three seasons in the Pacific Northwest before being traded to the Dolphins in 2005. He then signed with the 49ers later that season and spent parts of three seasons in the Bay Area with San Francisco and then the Oakland Raiders.
Richard and his wife Chandra have three children: Alyssa, Aiden and Asher.
THE RICHARD FILE
- 2026-present- Stanford (Willie Shaw Director of Defense and Couch Family Defensive Backs Coach)
- 2024- Jacksonville Jaguars (Defensive backs coach)
- 2022- New Orleans Saints (Co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach)
- 2021- New Orleans Saints (Defensive backs coach)
- 2018-19- Dallas Cowboys (Defensive back coach/passing game coordinator)
- 2015-17- Seattle Seahawks (Defensive coordinator)
- 2012-14- Seattle Seahawks (Defensive backs coach)
- 2011- Seattle Seahawks (Cornerbacks coach)
- 2010- Seattle Seahawks (Assistant defensive backs coach)
- 2008-09- USC (Graduate assistant)