Kris Richard

Kris Richard (born October 28, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator for the Stanford Cardinal. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks, and New Orleans Saints.

Playing career High school Richard prepped at Serra High School in Gardena, California.

National Football League

He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd round (85th overall) in the 2002 NFL draft. He played for the Seahawks for three seasons. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins for Ronald Flemons in 2005. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2005 and the Oakland Raiders in 2007. Richard was instrumental to the formation of the Legion of Boom defensive secondary. He helped coach and develop players such as Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Brandon Browner, Byron Maxwell and for his rookie season only, Shaquill Griffin. Bleacher Report described the Legion of Boom's accomplishments as a credit not only to Richard, but to Carroll, who was a safety himself in his playing days and began his coaching career as a secondary coach. He won his first Super Bowl title when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

After losing Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks promoted Richard to defensive coordinator to replace Dan Quinn, who had left to become the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons.

Richard was relieved of his defensive coordinator duties following the 2017 season. He was credited with the decision to move Byron Jones to cornerback fulltime, who went on to receive Pro Bowl honors. He was given the defensive play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. During his time with the Cowboys he was seen as a head coach candidate around the league and had interviews with 4 teams (Buccaneers, Jets, Dolphins and Giants). On January 13, 2020, it was reported that Richard would not be retained by Dallas following the removal of head coach Jason Garrett.

New Orleans Saints On February 2, 2021, Richard was hired by the New Orleans Saints as their defensive backs coach under head coach Sean Payton, replacing Aaron Glenn, who departed to become the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. On February 1, 2023, Richard parted ways with the Saints.

Jacksonville Jaguars On February 22, 2024, Richard was named defensive backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Stanford On February 19, 2026, Richard was hired by Stanford as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.