Dexter Coakley

In 2011, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Southern Conference Hall of Fame.

In 2006, he finished with 37 tackles and two interceptions as a backup, starting five games in place of the injured starter Pisa Tinoisamoa. He was released by the Rams in 2007.

One day after being released by the Cowboys, he was signed to a five-year contract, by the St. Louis Rams for nearly double the salary he was getting in Dallas, with a signing bonus of $14 million. Coakley was a starter in 2005, registering 42 tackles, two sacks, and one interception in 12 games for the Rams, before suffering a season-ending fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle.

In 2002, he led the team with 173 tackles. While Coakley started all 16 games in 2004, he shared significant time with second year linebacker Bradie James, finishing the year with a career-low 91 tackles (60 solo), ending a streak of seven consecutive 100-tackle seasons. He also had 6 quarterback pressures and 5 passes defensed. At the end of the 2004 season he was released because of salary cap considerations and a switch to a 3–4 defense, which is designed for bigger and taller linebackers.

In the 90's, the Cowboys organization felt they could find linebackers through the draft, without the need of paying a premium and adversely impacting the salary cap, so they allowed talented and productive players like Ken Norton Jr., Darrin Smith, Dixon Edwards, Robert Jones and Randall Godfrey, to leave via free agency, instead of signing them into long-term contracts. This philosophy ended when the Cowboys re-signed Coakley to a six-year contract extension in 2001.

During his eight seasons with the Cowboys, he was a very durable player starting 127 out of 128 games, his only missed game was midway through the 2001 season because of a sprained knee. Coakley is tied with Dennis Thurman for the club record for defensive touchdowns with five, coming on fumble (one) and interception (four) returns. He is the fourth leading tackler in franchise history with 1,046.

In 1999, he made 131 tackles and intercepted four passes, becoming the first Cowboys linebacker to go to the Pro Bowl since Ken Norton Jr. in 1993. Coakley also received the NFL's "All Iron MVP" award during that year's Thanksgiving Day game.

His string of seven consecutive 100-tackle seasons is a franchise record. In addition, he reached double figures in tackles 37 times in 95 career regular season games. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

Coakley was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (65th overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft, after dropping because he was considered an undersized linebacker with a small college background.

While at Appalachian State University he grew bigger and was switched to linebacker, becoming the first two-time winner of the Buck Buchanan Awards, given each year to the nation's top Division I-AA defensive player. He was a critical part of the defense on the 1995 Mountaineer team that finished the season unbeaten and untied.

William Dexter Coakley (born October 20, 1972) is a former American football linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was a third round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1997 NFL Draft, out of Division I-AA school Appalachian State. Coakley was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011 making him Appalachian State's first inductee.