Tom Bradley (American Football)

Tom Bradley (American Football)

Thomas Mark Bradley is an American football coach and former collegiate football player. A longtime member of the Penn State coaching staff, Bradley served in a variety of roles for the program during a stellar career that spanned more than three decades. A defensive back for Joe Paterno in the late seventies, Bradley graduated from Penn State in 1979 and immediately began his foray into coaching. As a player Bradley played in some of Penn State’s greatest bowl games, including the 1975 and 1979 Sugar Bowls as well as the 1977 Fiesta Bowl. He graduated with a degree in Business Administration and immediately began coaching as a Graduate Assistant with Penn State, completing his Master's in Sports Administration in 1982. Bradley most recently served as the interim head football coach at Pennsylvania State University after Joe Paterno was dismissed after 46 seasons as head coach. Bradley left the Penn State program in 2012. He most recently launched his personal website, TomBradleyINC.com, via Twitter in June 2012. Bradley is an active user on Twitter, operating under the handle @TomScrapBradley.

Bradley became a full-time staff member in 1980. Soon thereafter, the traits that had made him a Special Teams captain manifested themselves in his coaching abilities. Known to be the 1st person into the office and the last to leave, Bradley built a reputation as an individual who worked tremendously hard. The product showed on the field.

Bradley was named Penn State’s Defensive Coordinator in 2000 and his defenses quickly became known for their creativity and “bend-don’t-break” style. For much of the early 2000s Penn State’s defenses were at the mercy of an anemic offense on the other side of the ball. However, they continued to exhibit great talent and produced outstanding results.

From 2004 to 2011 Penn State’s Defense ranked 3rd in the nation in Scoring Defense (16.4 ppf) and was 5th in Total Defense (298.7ypg). In 2009, the Nittany Lions ranked in the Top 15 nationally in the six primary defensive categories. Additionally, from 2004 to 2009 Penn State finished in the Top 15 in Total and Scoring Defense.

A telling stat is that from 2004 through most of the 2011 season, Penn State held 53 of its 88 opponents to 17 points or fewer. 10 of those 53 came in Penn State’s illustrious 2009 campaign. Bradley has been recognized for his defense’s outstanding performances. He was named the Associated Press Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2005 and was named Rivals.Com Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2008. Additionally Rivals.com had Bradley ranked as the 2nd best Defensive Coordinator in the nation before he was named interim head coach in 2011.