Sam Sewell is in his fourth season with the Cardinals after being hired as assistant special teams coach on 3/1/23. He came to Arizona from Eastern Michigan where he coached running backs for four years (2019-22) and added the title of special teams coordinator in 2022. Sewell has 13 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including eight seasons coaching special teams.
Last year, the special teams featured K Chad Ryland who finished the year with 111 points, becoming just the 8th player in franchise history with multiple seasons of 100+ points (had 110 points in 2024). DL Calais Campbell, at the age of 39, blocked a FG and PAT. That gave him 11 career blocked kicks (10 FG, 1 PAT), the fourth-most in NFL history. During the 2026 offseason, Sewell was selected to work as the special teams coordinator for the National team at the Senior Bowl.
In 2024, Ryland was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate after connecting on 28-of-32 FG attempts and 26-of-27 PATs for a team-high 110 total points in just 13 games played. He joined the team in October and became just the third player in NFL history to have three-game winning FGs in the 4th quarter/OT in his first four games with a team. P Blake Gillikin punted 38 times for 1,887 yards (49.7 avg.) in 13 games and had 19 punts landed inside the 20-yard line with just one touchback. He was the only punter in the NFL in 2024 to have at least 30 punts with one or fewer touchbacks. Both Gillikin (NFC Special Teams Player of the Week—Week 9) and Ryland (NFC Special Teams Player of the Month---October) were honored in 2024. KR DeeJay Dallas had a 96-yard kickoff return for a TD in the season opener, becoming the first player in the NFL to return a new dynamic kickoff for a TD. Â
With Arizona in 2023, K Matt Prater had 106 points and set a franchise record with nine FGs of 50+ yards, including an NFL single-season record six FGs of 55+ yards. Prater connected on a 62-yard FG in Week 3 vs. Dallas, tying his own franchise record for the longest FG in team history. Gillikin set a new franchise single-season record with a 50.6-yard punting average, the third best average in the NFL in 2023.
During his first season as special teams coordinator at Eastern Michigan in 2022, K Jesus Gomez was named the Mid-American Conference Kicker of the Year after connecting on 14-of-17 FGs and scoring 89 points. KR Jaylon Jackson was named the conference's Specialist of the Year and earned first-team All-MAC honors after returning 23 kickoffs for 571 yards (24.8-yard avg.) and one TD and P Mitchell Tomasek led the conference with a 44.3-yard punting average. Sewell also helped RB Samson Evans rush for 1,166 yards and 15 TDs and earn second-team All-MAC honors in 2022.
In 2021, the Eagles offense averaged 31.0 points per game and converted 42.4 percent (67-of-158) of its third down attempts, finishing as one of the top units in the conference. Evans ranked 4th in the conference with rushing 13 TDs, the seventh-most in a single-season in school history. He also had three passing TDs and tallied 19 receptions for 107 yards. In 2020, Sewell helped the Eagles offense amass 2,438 total yards (406.3 ypg), the 4th best finish in school history. EMU also added 23 TDs, the 2nd best mark in program history, and averaged 22.3 first downs per game (134 total) which ranked 6th in program history. Â
In his first season with the Eagles in 2019, EMU had 5,271 total yards and scored 49 TDs, the most in program history, earning a trip to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. Their 285 first downs, 379 points scored and 5,271 yards of total offense were the 2nd most in school history. RB Shaq Vann finished his career ranked 6th in school history with 24 career TDs and 7th all-time with 2,577 rushing yards.
Prior to Eastern Michigan, Sewell spent two seasons (2017-18) as the running backs coach at Indiana State. Following an 0-11 record in his first season, the Sycamores completed the biggest turnaround in college football after going 7-4 in 2018 and finishing ranked #22 in the FCS. RB Ja'Quan Keys earned first-team All-MVFC honors in 2018 after rushing for a league-best 13 TDs and led the team with 135.4 rushing yards per game.
Sewell spent seven seasons coaching in Division II with stops at Colorado State-Pueblo (2010-12, 2015-16) and McKendree University (2013-14). In his first stint at Colorado State-Pueblo, Sewell coached tight ends/special teams (2010-12) before returning to the program in 2015 as running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator. During his first stint at CSU-Pueblo, the ThunderWolves won two consecutive RMAC Championships and combined for a 23-2 record. In 2015, the ThunderWolves ranked 6th nationally in rushing (291.0 ypg). Brothers Cameron and Bernard McDondle combined for 3,674 rushing yards, establishing a new NCAA record for rushing yards by two RBs on the same team. Cameron finished third for the Harlon Hill Trophy, given to the top player in Division II, after finishing 2nd nationally in rushing yards, rushing yards per game and rushing TDs. Bernard led Division II in rushing yards per carry that season. The pair helped CSU-Pueblo become just the 4th team in NCAA Division II history to produce both a 2,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard rusher in the same season.
While at McKendree, Sewell served as running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Sewell helped improve the special teams unit in nearly every statistical category, which included the Bearcats finishing second in the nation in punt return average. He also served as the recruiting coordinator for the 2013 class. Â
Sewell was a two-year starter at the University of Northern Colorado (2006-10) and appeared in 31 games at tight end and on special teams. He earned a bachelor's degree in Recreation Tourism & Hospitality in 2010.
