Chargers Coaches | Los Angeles Chargers - chargers.com

Denzel Martin joins the Los Angeles coaching staff in 2026 as assistant linebackers coach, a position he has tutored in the NFL for eight seasons.

Denzel Martin joins the Los Angeles coaching staff in 2026 as assistant linebackers coach, a position he has tutored in the NFL for eight seasons.

Martin coached outside linebackers for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last three seasons (2023-25) after being promoted from assistant outside linebackers coach (2020-22). He tutored a pass-rushing group in 2025 that saw linebackers Nick Herbig (7.5), Alex Highsmith (9.5) and T.J. Watt (7.0) combined for 24.0 sacks as Watt earned his eighth career Pro Bowl selection. As position coach from 2023-25, Martin helped Watt total 37.5 sacks en route to earning three Pro Bowl nods and a first-team All-Pro selection from The Associated Press (2023).

As assistant outside linebackers coach for Pittsburgh from 2020-22, Martin helped Watt register 43.0 sacks, including a 22.5-sack, 21-tackle for loss campaign in 2021 that saw the Wisconsin product earn consensus NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Watt became the first player since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 to lead the NFL in sacks three times (2020, '21 and '23).

Martin began his coaching career as a defensive coaching assistant for the Steelers from 2018-19, assisting with daily operations of the defensive staff. He worked with the middle linebackers his first season before moving to defensive line and outside linebackers in 2019. Martin first joined Pittsburgh as a scouting assistant, spending two seasons (2016-17) in that role.

A former linebacker at the University of Missouri, Martin played for the Tigers from 2010-14, graduating with a degree in multidisciplinary studies in 2014. He was a recruiting graduate assistant in 2015 at Missouri while earning a master's in education with an emphasis in positive coaching.