Will Ahmad Masood pursue being the next South Asian coach in the NFL? Maybe (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images).
There have been two NFL coaches of South Asian descent in the history of the NFL. One year, 2022, they both coached for the same team – the Seattle Seahawks! Sanjay Lal is British-Indian, and Sean Desai is American-Indian. The NFL did not have a coach of Indian descent until Lal broke the barrier in 2007, when he became the Oakland Raiders offensive quality control coach. Learn more about Mr. Lal and Dr. Desai in the final article for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2024.
Sanjay Lal
Sanjay Lal was born in London, England, in 1969. The Lal family traveled frequently throughout Sanjay’s childhood due to his father’s job. Before America, he also lived in the Middle East and Mexico City. In 7th grade, Sanjay was introduced to football when the family moved to Plano, Texas. Little did Lal know his life would change forever.
Playing Career
Lal first played football in middle school and then through high school. Sanjay also played at the collegiate level, first for the UCLA Bruins and then for the University of Washington, before graduating with a degree in business administration in 1993. His tenure at the UW was an exciting one; he is a Husky Hall of Fame member, a member of the National Championship team in 1991, and played in the Rose Bowl twice.
The wide receiver bounced around the NFL and NFL Europe in 1998 and 1999, but he was injured often, which kept him from being able to pursue any professional football opportunities seriously.
Coaching Career
Sanjay Lal made the quick decision that he would be the first South Asian NFL coach instead of pursuing playing. He didn’t become one overnight, though. Lal began as a high school coach from 1996 until 2002. From 2003 to 2006, he coached at the collegiate level. Finally, in 2007, Sanjay was hired by the Oakland Raiders.
Lal was promoted to the wide receiver coaching gig by the Raiders in 2009 until 2011. From 2012 to 2019, Sanjay was a WR coach for four different franchises. He tried his hand at being a senior offensive assistant for the Seattle Seahawks in 2020. After that, he became a wide receiver coach for the Jaguars and then jumped back to Seattle, where he was a passing game coordinator and WR coach for two seasons.
Since Seattle basically fired the entire coaching staff when Pete Carroll was demoted, Sanjay Lal was back pounding the pavement with his resume this season. However, he found a new home with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he will also be a wide receivers coach. We cannot wait to see the South Asian trailblazer do great with the Chargers this upcoming season.
Sean Desai
Sean Desai has a fancy title as the first South Asian coordinator in the NFL. He also has another fancy title: doctor. Desai played a little football at the high school level, where he grew up in Shelton, Connecticut, but he gave it up at the college level in favor of education and coaching.
The Journey to Coaching
While getting his double-major bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science with a minor in biology in just three years, he would volunteer on the weekend to help coach his brother’s high school team. Desai next got his masters degree in education at Columbia University, where he shadowed the football coaching staff for one semester.
Sean Desai tried to get a starting coaching gig in the NFL but was unable to find one. So instead, he became Dr. Desai, getting his doctorate in educational administration at Temple University. While at Temple, Desai volunteered with the football recruiting staff before he was hired as a graduate assistant by head coach Al Golden.
In the beginning, Desai was just helping athletes academically, but later he started working with the defense and special teams coaching staff. For two of his years at Temple, he was also an adjunct professor in the education department.
Coaching for Real
In 2010, Dr. Sean had to make big decisions. Become a full-time professor at George Washington University or take the full-time coaching gig Al Golden begged him to take. You can guess what he chose. In 2010, Desai was hired as an outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. The doctor was the youngest Division 1 coordinator ever, at 27 years old. Save some trailblazing for the rest of us!
Desai moved on to coach at other colleges until he was recruited by the NFL in 2013. He was with the Chicago Bears from 2013 to 2021. Dr. Sean was a defensive quality control coach, safeties coach, and defensive coordinator during his tenure with Chicago. In 2022, Desai became the first South Asian associate head coach with the Seattle Seahawks (I’m proud to be a Seahawks fan for the first time in a while!).
You likely saw Dr. Sean as the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. That didn’t end well, with him being relieved of his play-calling duties in December 2023. This upcoming season, Desai will be the senior defensive assistant for the Los Angeles Rams. The upcoming season will likely be much better for Sean Desai.
Dr. Desai Discusses his South Asian Heritage
In this video, Dr. Desai discusses his Indian heritage. He highlights the richness of Indian culture and offers the suggestion that you should make Indian friends early so you can attend their weddings. You don’t want to miss those!
Dr. Sean also discusses the fact that being the first coordinator of South Asian descent is humbling, an honor to him, and a big responsibility. He feels he is representing an entire group of people in his role. He mentioned creating pathways for people in the future. Desai definitely understands the importance of representation in his coaching gig with the NFL. Keep up the great work, Dr. Sean Desai!
Who Are the Future Coaches of South Asian Descent?
No one, apparently. The three former players of South Asian descent, Brandon Chillar, Gibran Hamdan, and Sanjay Beach, in the NFL have been retired for over 10 years each, with no obvious interest in joining coaching staffs as of yet.
Ahmad Masood was an exciting prospect for the NFL as the first player of South Asian descent at Syracuse. The half-Indian-half-Pakistani defensive lineman appears to not have played football since the 2022–2023 season at the latest. There appear to be no other South Asian players or coaches in the NFL pipeline playing or coaching at the collegiate level yet.
It is unlikely that we will see anyone of South Asian descent on the gridiron besides Sean Desai and Sanjay Lal for a while. It’ll also be a while before Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month rolls around again, so make sure to catch the previous three articles published throughout May here.
