Jeff Nixon's skills, experience, and adaptability were key to his impressive career as a player and coach at the college and professional levels.

Jeff grew up in New Brighton, before moving to State College, where he was a star high school running back. Jeff played college football at West Virginia University in 1993 and 1994, including the 1993 season in which the Mountaineers went 11-0 in the regular season before losing to Florida in the national championship. Jeff transferred to Penn State, playing tailback for the Nittany Lions in 1995 and 1996, finishing his college career with a 5.4 yards-per-carry average to go along with two touchdowns. Jeff also returned seven kicks for the Mountaineers in 1994, with a 20.9-yard average.

After starting his coaching career at Penn State in 1997 as a student assistant to Joe Paterno, Jeff served as running backs coach for Princeton University in 1998 and Shippensburg University from 1999 through 2002. Over the next three seasons, Jeff coached running backs, tight ends, and special teams for University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and in 2006 coached running backs and wide receivers for Temple University. Jeff served as recruiting coordinator for UT at Chattanooga, which had the Rivals.com best Division I-AA recruiting class in 2003 and fourth-best class in 2004.

Jeff jumped to the NFL, first as offensive assistant and special teams assistant to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid from 2007 through 2010. Over the next five seasons, Jeff coached running backs for the Miami Dolphins. In 2016, Jeff coached tight ends for the San Francisco 49ers, and from 2017 through 2019, Jeff served as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach for Baylor University under Matt Rhule, who was Jeff's teammate and roommate in high school and at Penn State.

Returning to the NFL to help head coach Matt Rhule with the Carolina Panthers, Jeff served as Panthers running backs coach and senior offensive assistant coach in 2020, running backs coach and interim offensive coordinator in 2021, and assistant head coach and running backs coach in 2022. In 2023, Jeff coached running backs for the New York Giants, and, since 2024, Jeff has been the offensive coordinator and running backs coach for Syracuse University.

Jeff graduated from Penn State in 1998 and made the Big Ten Conference All-Academic Team in 1995 and 1996. Jeff earned a master's degree in education administration from Shippensburg University in 2003. Jeff has been married for over 25 years to Laura (Moss) Nixon, and Jeff and Laura are the parents of four children: William, Faith, Hope, and Jasmine.

− Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers