Background and career
Donald André Bly (born May 22, 1977) is an American football coach and former player who formerly served as the assistant defensive backs coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a cornerback for 11 seasons in the NFL. He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, earning All-American honors twice. Bly was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft, and spent four seasons with the Rams, earning a Super Bowl ring with them in Super Bowl XXXIV. He was selected to two Pro Bowls during his four-year tenure with the Detroit Lions, and also played for the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. He most-recently served as the cornerbacks coach for the Tar Heels before his departure in 2023.
Bly was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, where he was an all-state high school football player as well as a decorated baseball player for Western Branch Bruins.
Bly attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. In his redshirt freshman season at UNC, he led the nation with 11 interceptions. He received all-American honors, and at the time was only one of five players in NCAA history to achieve this honor as a freshman (Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Bjorn Merten, and Marshall Faulk being the others). Bly was the only football player in UNC and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history to receive consensus first-team All-America honors twice in his college career. In his sophomore year, he was one of three finalists for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bly set the ACC record for career interceptions (20), which was later broken by Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest (21). He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
The St. Louis Rams selected Bly in the second round (41st overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. He was the sixth cornerback selected in 1999. The Rams acquired the second-round pick (41st overall) they used to select Bly in a trade with the New Orleans Saints for wide receiver Eddie Kennison. He became the second highest drafted defensive back from North Carolina since 1967, following first-round pick (28th overall) Thomas Smith in the 1993 NFL draft. On July 17, 1999, the Rams signed Bly to a four–year, $2.45 million rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $850,000. Throughout training camp, he competed against Taje Allen to be a backup cornerback and special teams player under defensive coordinator Peter Giunta. Head coach Dick Vermeil named Bly a backup and listed him as the fourth cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind Dexter McCleon, Todd Lyght, and Taje Allen. On September 12, 1999, Bly made his professional regular season debut in the St. Louis Rams' home-opener against the Baltimore Ravens and recorded one solo tackle during a 27–10 victory. On October 10, 1999, Bly made one solo tackle, one pass deflection, and had his first career interception on a pass by Jeff Garcia to wide receiver J. J. Stokes as they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 42–20. The following week, he set a season-high with six solo tackles during a 41–13 victory at the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5. On December 5, 1999, Bly made one tackle, one pass deflection, and also intercepted a pass Steve Beuerlein threw to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad and returned it 45–yards for the first touchdown of his career during a 34–21 victory at the Carolina Panthers. Entering Week 15, defensive coordinator Peter Giunta promoted Bly to the starting nickelback and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart, supplanting Taje Allen. In Week 16, Bly earned his first career start as a nickelback and recorded three solo tackles and made one pass deflection as they defeated the Chicago Bears 34–21. He finished his rookie season with 37 combined tackles (31 solo), eight pass deflections, three interceptions, and scored one touchdown in 16 games and two starts.
The St. Louis Rams finished the 1999 NFL season first in the NFC West with a 13–3 record, clinching a first-round bye. On January 16, 2000, Bly appeared in the first playoff game of his career and recorded four solo tackles during a 49–37 victory against the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round. On January 23, 2000, Bly appeared in the NFC Championship Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and led a comeback as the Rams were losing 6–5 in the fourth quarter. He intercepted a pass Shaun King threw to running back Warrick Dunn with 9:20 remaining in the fourth quarter and the turnover would lead to the game-winning 30–yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to wide receiver Ricky Proehl for an 11–6 win against the Buccaneers to advance to the Super Bowl. On January 30, 2000, Bly appeared in Super Bowl XXXIV as a backup cornerback and made one pass deflection as the Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans 23–16 in a closely-contented last second victory.
On February 1, 2000, St. Louis Rams' general manager and head coach Dick Vermeil announced his retirement and offensive coordinator Mike Martz was promoted as his replacement as head coach. The St. Louis Rams selected Jacoby Shepherd in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2000 NFL draft. Throughout training camp, Bly competed against Jacoby Shepherd to be the third cornerback on the depth chart. Head coach Mike Martz named Bly the starting nickelback and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart, behind starting duo Dexter McCleon and Todd Lyght. On September 17, 2000, Bly recorded one solo tackle, set a season-high with three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Jeff Garcia as the Rams defeated the San Francisco 49ers 41–24. The following week, he recorded three solo tackles, made one pass deflection, had his first career sack, and intercepted a pass Chris Chandler threw to wide receiver Shawn Jefferson during a 41–20 victory at the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4. He started in place of Todd Lyght for two games (Weeks 10–11) due to a hamstring injury to Lyght that rendered him inactive. On October 29, 2000, Bly earned his first career start as a starting outside cornerback and set a season-high with six solo tackles and had one pass break-up during a 34–24 victory against the San Francisco 49ers. He completed the season with 53 combined tackles (49 solo), ten pass deflections, three interceptions, one sack, and a fumble recovery in 16 games and three starts.
