# Alex Tanney

Alex Tanney (born November 11, 1987) is an American football coach and former quarterback who serves as the offensive passing game coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Monmouth College and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012. Tanney was also a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants before retiring in 2020.
Tanney began his coaching in 2021 as an offensive quality control coach with the Eagles under head coach Nick Sirianni.

## Early life

Tanney was a three-sport high school standout athlete at Lexington High School in Lexington, Illinois, where he finished as the school's all-time leading point scorer. He was a two-time first-team Illinois All-State quarterback. He led his team to the IHSA state semi-finals his senior year. He was also named an All-State basketball player. Tanney also placed at the IHSA State Track and Field Finals his junior and senior years.

## College career

Tanney broke nearly every school record during his time at Monmouth College. As a freshman in 2007, his career began when he threw for 2,678 yards and 24 touchdowns.
As a sophomore in 2008, he broke the school record of single-season touchdown passes with 50. For his junior campaign, Tanney threw for 3,856 yards and 44 touchdowns which led him to be named the Melberger Award winner as NCAA D-III's top player.
As a junior in 2009, he collected 3,856 passing yards, 44 passing toucdowns and one rushing score. He was responsible for more than 24 points per game, while also averaging 350.55 passing yards and 348.73 total yards per contest.
Tanney redshirted during the 2010 season, with a shoulder injury he suffered in the second game against Grinnell College.
In February 2011, he became famous after posting in YouTube a football trick-shot video that went viral. In July, History Channel's Stan Lee's Superhumans filmed an episode featuring Tanney.
As a senior, he came back and threw for a career-high 3,867 yards along with 38 touchdowns. On October 29, 2011, in a game against Carroll University, Tanney set the NCAA record for all-time all-division career touchdown passes with 150, surpassing Jimmy Terwilliger's record of 148.
Tanney finished his collegiate career with 157 touchdown passes and has the second most passing yards in NCAA D-III history with 14,249. He won three Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year Awards along with numerous All-American Awards.

## Professional career
### Kansas City Chiefs

Tanney signed a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent on June 5, 2012. He was placed on injured reserve with a finger injury on September 1, 2012.

### Dallas Cowboys

On July 21, 2013, the Cowboys signed Tanney to their roster. On August 4, Tanney played the entire second half of the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. On August 29, he played all but one series in the 24–6 loss against the Houston Texans, where he posted 17-of-31 completions for 177 yards, one interception and was sacked seven times. In five preseason games, he completed 40-of-73 attempts for 423 yards, one touchdown and 2 interceptions. He was released on August 30. He was signed to the Cowboys' eight-player practice squad on September 1.

### Cleveland Browns

On November 26, 2013, the Cleveland Browns signed Tanney off the Cowboys' practice squad. On May 12, 2014, the Browns released Tanney.

### Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tanney was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on May 20, 2014. The Buccaneers released Tanney on August 24, 2014.

### Tennessee Titans (first stint)

Tanney was signed to the practice squad of the Tennessee Titans on December 16, 2014. He signed a futures contract with the Titans on December 29, 2014. The Titans released Tanney on September 5, 2015.

### Buffalo Bills

Tanney was signed to the practice squad of the Buffalo Bills on September 7, 2015. Tanney was dropped from the practice squad a day later, after the team re-signed Matt Cassel.

### Indianapolis Colts

Tanney signed to the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts on September 29, 2015. He was released on October 20, 2015. Tanney re-signed to the practice squad on November 10, 2015.

### Tennessee Titans (second stint)

On December 21, 2015, Tanney was signed off the Colts practice squad by the Tennessee Titans. He made his NFL regular-season debut on January 3, 2016, against the Indianapolis Colts, relieving the injured Zach Mettenberger in the third quarter and going 10-for-14 for 99 yards and throwing his first and only career touchdown pass, to Dorial Green-Beckham. He became the first Division III quarterback to appear in an NFL game. On September 13, 2016, he was waived by the Titans and was re-signed to their practice squad the next day. On December 27, 2016, he was promoted to the active roster.
On September 2, 2017, Tanney was placed on injured reserve. On April 30, 2018, Tanney was released by the Titans.

### New York Giants

On May 2, 2018, Tanney signed with the New York Giants. Tanney was named on the Giants’ 53-man roster on September 1, 2018, as the primary backup to Eli Manning.
On March 4, 2019, Tanney signed a two-year contract extension with the Giants. He was released on October 10, 2019, but re-signed the next day.
Tanney was placed on the active/non-football illness list by the Giants at the start of training camp on July 28, 2020, and moved back to the active roster six days later. On September 5, 2020, Tanney was released from the Giants. On December 5, 2020, Tanney was signed to the Giants practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021. He announced his retirement on February 9, 2021.

### Career statistics

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2015 | TEN | 1 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 71.4 | 99 | 7.1 | 1 | 0 | 114.9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2019 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 79.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 2 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 73.3 | 100 | 6.7 | 1 | 0 | 113.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |

## Coaching career
### Philadelphia Eagles

In 2021, Tanney was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive quality control coach under head coach Nick Sirianni. In 2022, Tanney was promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant coach.
On February 28, 2023, Tanney was promoted to quarterbacks coach, replacing Brian Johnson, who was promoted to offensive coordinator.
On January 26, 2024, Tanney requested permission, which was granted by the Eagles, to pursue another coaching job with another team and stated he had opportunities elsewhere. The Eagles were giving their coaching staff an overhaul for the 2024 season and had recently fired offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.

### Indianapolis Colts

On February 7, 2024, Tanney was hired by the Indianapolis Colts to serve as the team's offensive passing game coordinator.