Adrian William Klemm (born May 21, 1977) is an American football coach and former offensive tackle who was most recently the offensive line coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021.
Klemm played college football at the University of Hawaii and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft, the same draft in which they selected Tom Brady in the sixth round. Klemm spent six seasons in the NFL with the Patriots and Green Bay Packers, winning three Super Bowls as a member of the Patriots.
Early life
Klemm attended Saint Monica Catholic High School in Santa Monica, California, and was a prep teammate of
Marcellus Wiley and was named the Santa Monica athlete of the year as a senior. Klemm was a two-time All-League selection in both football and
basketball.
College career
Klemm attended the University of Hawaii and was a four-year
Starting lineup. He played under
June Jones during his senior season (1999), and was a part of the biggest turnaround in NCAA history, as Hawaii improved from 0–12 to 9–4 and won a bowl game that season. Following his senior season, Klemm was selected as the starting left tackle at the
Senior Bowl and also earned invitations to the East-West Shrine Game and the
Hula Bowl.
Professional career
Klemm was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round (46th overall selection) of the 2000 NFL draft.
Klemm spent five years with the Patriots, appearing in 26 contests with 10 starts. Klemm was also a member of three
Super Bowl champion teams during his time with the Patriots. Klemm spent his final professional season with the Green Bay Packers in 2005, appearing in 16 games and starting in half of those games for the Packers.
Coaching career
SMU
Klemm began his coaching career in 2008 as a volunteer with the SMU Mustangs, coached by Klemm's former college coach
June Jones. In 2009, Klemm was named the offensive line coach and in 2011, he added the title of recruiting coordinator for the Mustangs. During his time at SMU, Klemm quickly became known for being one of the nation's top recruiters. Following the 2010 season, Klemm was named the top BCS non-AQ Recruiter in the nation by
Rivals.com, and was further recognized by the outlet as one of the top 25 recruiters in the country overall.
Fox Sports/Scout.com also named him the 2010
Conference USA Recruiter of the Year.
UCLA
In December 2011, Klemm accepted an offer to become the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the UCLA Bruins under coach Jim L. Mora He helped the Bruins bring in one of the nation's top recruiting classes and was named the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year by
24/7 Sports.
He was elevated to associate head coach in 2014. Klemm coached for five seasons before parting ways with UCLA on January 15, 2017. He and Mora were listed in three different lawsuits by three former Bruins players for mishandling injuries.
Klemm was dismissed from the players' lawsuits by December 2021.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Klemm was named the assistant offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, replacing
Shaun Sarrett who was promoted to offensive line coach, in 2019.
The Steelers promoted Klemm to offensive line coach on February 2, 2021.
On December 27, 2021, Klemm left the Steelers with 2 games remaining in the regular season to become an offensive line coach at
Oregon Ducks.
It was rumoured that Klemm's poor relationship with Steelers offensive coordinator
Matt Canada caused head coach
Mike Tomlin to agree to release Klemm in the knowledge that Klemm would not have continued in his role in the following year.
Oregon
Klemm served as offensive line coach, run game coordinator, and associate head coach under Oregon Ducks head coach
Dan Lanning. Klemm's tenure was highly successful, with the Ducks finishing with a 10–3 record in the 2022 season. The offensive line led the FBS in sacks allowed with only five, and the Ducks rushing game was rated the twelfth best. They completed the season by winning the 2022 Holiday Bowl.
New England Patriots
Klemm was one of the candidates interviewed by the New England Patriots in January 2023 as part of their search for a new offensive coordinator. The role eventually went to Bill O'Brien.
On February 6, Klemm was instead hired by the Patriots as the offensive line coach to complement O'Brien.
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