Background and career
Jerricho Cotchery (born June 16, 1982) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He is the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for North Greenville University, a position he has held since 2025. He played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, and Pittsburgh Steelers from 2004 to 2015. He played college football for North Carolina State University.
Cotchery graduated from Phillips High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He played wide receiver and defensive back and was named to the All-State team after his junior and senior years. He lettered in football and basketball in all four years of high school. Cotchery played shooting guard on the basketball team.
Cotchery majored in sports management at North Carolina State University. Cotchery played 49 games at North Carolina State. In 2002 and 2003, he was selected to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team. Cotchery's 200 career receptions and fifteen games with 100+ receiving yards broke two school records previously held by Torry Holt. Cotchery and Holt are the only two wide receivers in NC State football history to have two seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards. Cotchery also tied the school record for most consecutive games with at least one reception in thirty-nine straight games. Cotchery's fifteen career games of 100+ receiving yards tied him for second place in Atlantic Coast Conference history. He also ranks fourth in career receptions and career receiving yards. Cotchery and Peter Warrick are the only two receivers in ACC history with 200+ career receptions and 3,000+ career receiving yards. His 3,319 receiving yards are 33rd in NCAA history and his two hundred career receptions tie him for 42nd.
Cotchery was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round with the 108th overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. He was the 16th of 33 wide receivers taken in the draft, but over his career would have more success than expected from his relatively late selection, second in receiving yards only to Larry Fitzgerald (including 16 tight ends). In 2004, Cotchery caught six passes for 60 yards in twelve games (with no starts) as the team's fifth receiver. As a kick returner, he had thirteen returns for 362 yards, 27.8 yard average, and one touchdown.
Cotchery entered the 2005 season as the New York Jets fourth string wide receiver. An injury to Wayne Chrebet caused him to be moved up the depth chart to third string. Cotchery played in sixteen games (with one start), catching nineteen passes for 251 yards with no touchdowns. He returned four kicks for 105 yards, a 26.3 yard average, and twenty-three punts for 182 yards, a 7.9 yard average.
New Jets head coach Eric Mangini called Cotchery the "most outstanding player in our offseason program" and promoted him to second starting wide receiver opposite Laveranues Coles. Cotchery started for the Jets in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans. He had six catches for 65 yards, and caught his first NFL touchdown from quarterback Chad Pennington. The next week, Cotchery had six catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, which included a career-long 71-yard catch in a 24–17 loss to the New England Patriots. In Week 4, Cotchery had another touchdown catch in a 31–28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 10, the Jets beat the Patriots at Gillette Stadium 17–14. Cotchery had six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown moving the Jets to only one game behind the Patriots for first place in the AFC East. In Week 12, Cotchery had seven catches for 110 yards in the Jets' 26–11 win over the Houston Texans. The following week Cotchery had nine catches for 99 yards and a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field as the Jets won 38–10. The Jets' final record was 10–6. They were 7–6 after Week 14 but won their last three games to make the playoffs as a wildcard team. Cotchery ended the regular season with eighty-two catches (tied for 16th in the NFL) and 961 yards (twenty-second). Cotchery had 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Jets' Wild Card Round loss to the New England Patriots.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
