Jerry Gray enters his first season with the 49ers as defensive passing game coordinator. Gray joins the 49ers from the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent three seasons (2023- 25) as the assistant head coach/defense.

The 2025 Falcons finished the season with the second-most sacks (57.0) and tied for the seventh-most takeaways (23) in the NFL. Gray assisted a defensive unit that featured Associated Press Second-Team All-Pro S Jessie Bates III, who registered 98 tackles, six passes defensed, three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and one forced fumble.

Jerry Gray enters his first season with the 49ers as defensive passing game coordinator. Gray joins the 49ers from the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent three seasons (2023- 25) as the assistant head coach/defense.

The 2025 Falcons finished the season with the second-most sacks (57.0) and tied for the seventh-most takeaways (23) in the NFL. Gray assisted a defensive unit that featured Associated Press Second-Team All-Pro S Jessie Bates III, who registered 98 tackles, six passes defensed, three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and one forced fumble.

The Falcons defense also featured rookie DL James Pearce Jr. (10.5 sacks) and rookie DL Jalon Walker (5.5 sacks), who combined for 16.0 sacks and led all NFL rookies in the category. Gray also worked closely with LB Kaden Elliss, who led the team with 107 tackles and added 3.5 sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. In 2024, the Falcons were again led by Bates III and Elliss. Bates III finished the season with 102 tackles, 10 passes defensed, four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), four forced fumbles, 1.0 sack and one fumble recovery, making him the only player in the NFL that season to record four-or-more interceptions and four-or-more forced fumbles. Elliss finished with a career-high 150 tackles, 5.0 sacks, three passes defensed, one interception and one forced fumble. He became the third player since 2000, and the first in Falcons history, to register 150-or-more tackles and 5.0-or-more sacks in a single season.

In Gray's first season with Atlanta (2023), he assisted a defense that ranked near the top of the NFL in multiple categories. The unit finished the 2023 season ranking tied for second in forced fumbles (19), third in opponent third down conversion percentage (33.8%), fourth in opponent red zone efficiency (45.3%), eighth in opponent passing yards per game (202.9) and 11th in opponent yards per game (321.1). With Gray's assistance, S Jessie Bates III earned AP Second-Team All-Pro honors and the first Pro Bowl selection of his career after he registered career highs in tackles (132) and interceptions (six), while adding 11 passes defensed and three forced fumbles.

Prior to his time in Atlanta, Gray spent three seasons (2020- 22) with the Green Bay Packers as defensive backs/defensive passing game coordinator (2021-22) and defensive backs coach (2020). While working with the secondary in Green Bay, Gray helped the Packers rank sixth in opponent passing yards per game (212.2), tied for sixth in interceptions (46) and eighth in opponent passer rating (88.7) during that span (2020-22).

In 2022, Gray directed a secondary that helped the Packers rank in the top 10 in interceptions (17 – tied for fourth) and opponent passing yards per game (197.0 – sixth). Under Gray's guidance, CB Jaire Alexander was named AP Second-Team All-Pro and earned Pro Bowl honors for the second time in his career after he registered 56 tackles, 14 passes defensed and five interceptions. In 2021, Gray's secondary helped the Packers finish the season tied for sixth in interceptions (18), seventh in opponent completion percentage (62.9%), and 10th in opponent passer rating (86.9) and opponent passing yards per game (219.1). Gray coached CB Rasul Douglas who finished with 52 tackles, a career-high five interceptions and one forced fumble. Douglas returned two of his five interceptions for a touchdown, which were tied for the fourth most in a single season in Packers franchise history.

In Gray's first season in Green Bay (2020), the Packers boasted the seventh-ranked pass defense, holding opponents to 221.2 passing yards per game. Gray helped CB Jaire Alexander earn the first AP All-Pro (Second-Team) and Pro Bowl recognition of his career as he recorded 51 tackles, 13 passes defensed, one interception, 1.0 sack and one forced fumble. Alexander's selection to the All-Pro team made him the first Green Bay CB to earn All-Pro recognition since Hallof-Fame CB Charles Woodson in 2011. Gray also coached S Darnell Savage who recorded career highs in tackles (75), passes defensed (12), interceptions (four), sacks (1.0) and forced fumbles (one).