Marcus West

Marcus West (born November 6, 1983) is an American football coach and former defensive lineman who is the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to being hired by the Bills as the assistant defensive line coach, he was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He played for the Indianapolis Colts, Amsterdam Admirals, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats before getting into coaching. He was promoted to defensive line coach of the Bills ahead of the 2024 season, following Eric Washington’s departure to become the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.

Marcus West

Buffalo Bills
Position:	Defensive line coach
Personal information
Born:	(1983-11-06) November 6, 1983 (age 41) Amory, Mississippi
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
High school:	Columbus (MS)
College:	Memphis
NFL draft:	2006: undrafted
Career history
As a player:
Indianapolis Colts (2006)* Amsterdam Admirals (2007) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2007)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
Wartburg (2008) Defensive line coach Chattanooga (2009–2015) Defensive line coach Austin Peay (2016–2017) Assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Minnesota (2018) Defensive line pass rush specialist Charlotte (2019–2021) Assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Buffalo Bills (2022–2023) Assistant defensive line coach Buffalo Bills (2024–present) Defensive line coach
Career CFL statistics
Games played: 5 Total tackles: 5

Coaching career

West began his coaching career at Wartburg College as a defensive line coach before going on to Chattanooga as a defensive line coach. He joined the coaching staff of fellow Chattanooga assistant Will Healy at Austin Peay in 2016 as a co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.^[1]

Minnesota

West was added to the coaching staff at Minnesota in 2018 as a defensive line pass rush specialist.^[2]

Charlotte

West joined Healy's inaugural staff at Charlotte in 2019 as his assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator.^[3]

Buffalo Bills

On February 24, 2022, the Buffalo Bills hired West as their assistant defensive line coach,^[4] replacing Jacques Cesaire, who left to become the defensive line coach for the Houston Texans.^[5] On February 2, 2024, he was promoted to defensive line coach.^[6]

Personal life

West is married to the former Nikki Blassingame, an assistant on the Chattanooga women's basketball staff who he met while coaching there.^[7] Nikki is currently an assistant coach at NC State after spending one season at Charlotte.^[8]