Larry Izzo, one of the most acclaimed special teams players in NFL history, is in his second season as the Giants’ assistant special teams coach. Izzo works closely with special teams coordinator Tom Quinn.
In 2011, Izzo’s first season with the Giants, he won his fourth Super Bowl ring and first as a coach. He also helped develop a group of rookies who quickly became outstanding special teams players – Jacquian Williams, Tyler Sash, Spencer Paysinger, Mark Herzlich and Greg Jones. The Giants’ punt and kickoff coverage teams were solid all season and did not allow a touchdown in 2011.
Larry Izzo, one of the most acclaimed special teams players in NFL history, is in his second season as the Giants’ assistant special teams coach. Izzo works closely with special teams coordinator Tom Quinn.
In 2011, Izzo’s first season with the Giants, he won his fourth Super Bowl ring and first as a coach. He also helped develop a group of rookies who quickly became outstanding special teams players – Jacquian Williams, Tyler Sash, Spencer Paysinger, Mark Herzlich and Greg Jones. The Giants’ punt and kickoff coverage teams were solid all season and did not allow a touchdown in 2011.
In a 14-year NFL career (1996-2009), Izzo played for three teams and was both a three-time Super Bowl champion with New England and a three-time Pro Bowler. He was credited with 275 special teams tackles in 200 regular season games and 23 more in 21 postseason games. Izzo never played on a team with a losing record and his teams participated in the playoffs nine times, reached five AFC Championship Games and four Super Bowls. His teammates selected him as a special teams captain nine times, including eight with the Patriots.
Izzo began his career in 1996 as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins. He made such a rapid and positive impact that in preseason, Coach Jimmy Johnson said only two players were guaranteed to make the team – future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and Izzo. In his second NFL games, he blocked a Jeff Feagles punt. As a rookie, Izzo played in all 16 games and
finished second on the team with 10 special teams tackles. He was voted the special teams alternate for the AFC Pro Bowl team and was an all-rookie selection by Pro Football Weekly.
Izzo spent the 1997 season on injured reserve after tearing an Achilles tendon in training camp. He returned the following year to play 13 games, register 21 special teams tackles and be Miami’s recipient of the team’s Ed Block Courage Award. Izzo played in all 16 games – plus his first two postseason games – in 1999, when he led the team with a career-high 33 special teams tackles. He was elected the Dolphins’ special teams captain. In 2000, his final season in Miami, Izzo earned his first Pro Bowl selection after finishing with a team-high 31 special teams tackles.
Prior to the 2001 season, Izzo joined New England. In his first season with the Patriots, Izzo was voted special teams captain for the first of eight consecutive seasons, led the unit with 22 tackles and helped New England defeat St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI. The following year, Izzo was voted to the Pro Bowl for the second time after leading the Patriots with 20 special teams tackles. He was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after collecting six tackles in a game vs. Kansas City.
In 2003 and 2004, Izzo led New England with 31 and then 28 special teams tackles to help the Patriots win two more Super Bowls. He was a member of the AFC Pro Bowl team in 2004, when he was also an All-Pro. Izzo missed only one game from 2000-08 and was chosen for the Patriots’ All-2000’s team.
Izzo joined the Jets prior to the 2009 season. He was credited with 18 special teams tackles before going on injured reserve with a back injury on Dec. 10.
Izzo was a four-year letterman and three-year starter at Rice University, where he played linebacker and finished fourth in school history with 301 tackles, including a record 46 for losses. As a senior, he had 121 tackles, was a team captain, and consensus first-team All-Southwest Conference selection. In 2002, Izzo graduated from Rice with a degree in business.
At McCullough High School in Houston, Izzo played safety and running back. The Houston Chronicle named him its two-way Player of the Year as a senior after he tallied 131 tackles and two interceptions on defense and contributed 1,081 yards rushing, 14 receptions for 109
yards and 10 kickoff returns for 224 yards.
In 2005, Izzo and Warrick Dunn participated in an NFL-sponsored USO tour to visit troops stationed overseas. They began their trip at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where they helped open the Pat Tillman USO Center, then spent time with troops in Baghdad, Kuwait and Qatar. Izzo also visited injured military personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington in 2004 and 2005.
Izzo and his wife, Mara, have a son, Boston.
