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Home , Dick Vermeil, Grant Wistrom, Jared Allen, Marty Schottenheimer, Philadelphia Eagles, Pro Bowl

Carl “Nugget” Hairston

Carl “Nugget” or “Big Daddy” Hairston was inducted into the Hawk Hall of Fame in 1999. Carl came to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) from Martinsville, Virginia in 1972. Samuel Trott, a member of the Hawk Hall of Fame and a close friend of Carl’s, was responsible for getting him to attend the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

Carl was a four-year and a two-time captain of the Hawk football team from 1972 to 1975. Carl was, indeed, a mainstay of the program during its declining years.

Carl was named to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) All-Conference Team three-out of his fours years. During his senior year, Carl averaged over an astounding 20 tackles a game. At 6’ 4” and 255 pounds, Carl ran the forty in an amazing 4.65 seconds. An outstanding all-around athlete, Carl finished his athletic career as a center on the Hawk team.

The Eagles did not choose Carl until the 7th round in the 1976 (NFL) . Few people believed that he was bid enough to play on the defensive line in the pros. But, Carl surprised all his critics. In 1979, Carl was selected to the NFL’s All Pro Team as a defensive .

Carl "Big Daddy" Hairston joins the Bay Packers as defensive ends coach in 2006, his 31st in the National Football League. Named to his position by Mike McCarthy on Jan. 27, 2006, Hairston brings a wealth of experience to Green Bay, having played in one and coached in another during his three decades in the NFL.

Carl joins the Packers from Kansas City, where he spent the last five seasons in his second stint with the club. Originally drafted by 's Eagles, Carl was on the field as either a player or an assistant coach for every game of Vermeil's NFL head coaching tenures.

Under Carl’s leadership, Chiefs accumulated 20 sacks from 2004-05. That figure tied for 10th in the NFL during that period but ranked first among players drafted in 2004, including 23 defensive linemen taken before Allen. Led by Allen's nine sacks as a rookie, the second-highest total by a rookie in Chiefs history, the club finished 2004 with 41 sacks, seventh in . Prior to his second tour with the Chiefs, Carl reunited with Dick Vermeil for a memorable run with the St. Louis Rams (1997-2000). In 2000, Carl helped a pair of players, Kevin Carter and , reach double digits in sacks.

One year earlier, when the Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV, his unit provided most of St. Louis' 57 sacks, which tied for the league lead. Carter's NFL-leading 17 sacks that year powered him to the , where he joined his neighbor on the Rams line, D'Marco Farr. In Hairston's first year with the Rams, 1997, he assisted Leslie O'Neal to a 10-sack effort. Carl began his coaching career under as Kansas City's defensive line coach (1995-96), a role in which he worked with McCarthy. Tutoring one of the league's most-feared defensive fronts, Carl and his players helped the 13-3 Chiefs win the AFC West in 1995, when the team finished third in the NFL and second in the AFC with 47 sacks. Again, his unit produced a pair of Pro Bowl performers, Neil Smith and .

Originally a pro scout with the Chiefs in 1994, Carl also assisted with the defensive line during training camp that season. Earlier, he spent three years (1991-93) as a college scout with the Phoenix Cardinals, where he had finished his playing career. One of the finest defensive linemen of his era, Carl played 15 distinguished seasons in the NFL. He appeared in 224 NFL contests (184 starts), posted 94 sacks among 1,141 tackles and played in 15 postseason contests, including one Super Bowl and four conference championship games ('80 NFC, '86 AFC, '87 AFC and '89 AFC).

Selected in the seventh round (191st overall) of the 1976 draft by Vermeil, then a rookie head coach with the Eagles, Carl preceded on the Philadelphia defensive line. Starting each of his eight seasons (1976-83) with the Eagles, he captained the defense from 1979-83 and recorded 100-or-more tackles for five straight years (1977-81). In 1979, he led the Eagles and the NFC with a career-best 15 sacks. A year later, Hairston served as a starting defensive end in Super Bowl XV against the Oakland Raiders. Carl graduated from UMES in 1985 with a degree in General Studies. Carl’s career statistics with in the NFL are as follows:

Defense Year Team Games Sacks INT Yards Avg. TD Points 1976 14 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1977 Philadelphia Eagles 14 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1978 Philadelphia Eagles 16 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1979 Philadelphia Eagles 15 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1980 Philadelphia Eagles 16 0.0 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 1981 Philadelphia Eagles 16 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1982 Philadelphia Eagles 9 4.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1983 Philadelphia Eagles 16 5.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1984 16 4.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1985 Cleveland Browns 16 7.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1986 Cleveland Browns 16 9.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1987 Cleveland Browns 14 8.0 0 40 40.0 0 0 0 1988 Cleveland Browns 14 3.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1989 Cleveland Browns 16 6.5 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1990 Phoenix Cardinals 16 1.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 Career Totals 224 47.5 1 40 40.0 0 0 0

Stats for sacks were not officials keep by the NFL until the 1982.