Justin Peelle (pronounced 'peel') enters his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025 as tight ends coach.
In Peelle's first season with the Buccaneers, Tampa Bay's tight end group was led by Cade Otton, who totaled 59 receptions – the fifth-most by a tight end in a single season in franchise history – and established career highs in receptions, yards (600), yards per reception (10.2) and receiving first downs (31). He also matched his career high in receiving touchdowns (four). From Weeks 7-9, Otton became the first tight end in franchise history with eight-or-more receptions in three consecutive games, while tying the second-longest streak of games by a tight end with 8+ receptions and 75+ receiving yards in NFL history. During that span – following injuries to the team's top two pass catchers – Otton led the team in receptions (25) and receiving yards (258). He recorded a career-high eight receptions for a career-high 100 yards in Week 7 vs. Baltimore. In Weeks 16-18, tight ends Payne Durham and rookie Devin Culp stepped up and totaled 169 yards on 14 catches, stepping in after Otton suffered an injury that kept him out the final three weeks of the regular season.
Peelle came to Tampa Bay with 11 years of prior NFL coaching experience. He most recently served as tight ends coach for the Atlanta Falcons (2021-23), where he coached Kyle Pitts to a Falcons single-season rookie receiving yards record (1,026 yards) and a Pro Bowl selection in his first season. Pitts' 2021 season paired him with Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (1,067 in 1961) as the only rookie tight ends to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in NFL history.
In 2023, Peelle's unit collectively led the league in receiving yards by a tight ends group (1,380), while ranking fifth in receptions (114) and tying for ninth as a group in touchdown receptions (seven).
Prior to his time in Atlanta, Peelle spent the previous six seasons as tight ends coach for the Philadelphia Eagles (2015-20) after beginning his NFL coaching career as an assistant tight ends coach with the Eagles from 2013-14. In Philadelphia, Peelle played a vital role in the development of three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz. Peelle guided Ertz through his first eight NFL seasons, highlighted by a Super Bowl LII championship, in which Ertz hauled in the game-winning touchdown. In 2018, Ertz claimed the NFL record for single-season receptions by a tight end (116), a record that still stands to this day.
Coaching one of the NFL's best tight end duos from 2018-20 – Ertz and Dallas Goedert – Peele's unit in Philadelphia led the league in both receptions (417) and receiving yards (4,388) during that span, in addition to ranking third in touchdown receptions (31).
Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Peelle enjoyed a 10-year NFL career of his own, appearing in 151 career games. He entered the league as a fourth-round selection (No. 103 overall) by the San Diego Chargers in the 2002 NFL Draft, where he played for four seasons (2002-05) before going on to play for the Miami Dolphins (2006-07), Falcons (2008-10) and San Francisco 49ers (2011).
Peelle played collegiately at Oregon (1998-2001), earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a senior. He and his wife, Sara, have two sons, Morris and Thompson, and one daughter, Ada.
