JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you’ve ever watched a Jaguars game, you’ve likely noticed the passion defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile brings to the sidelines. That intensity didn’t begin when he arrived in the NFL. It was cultivated decades earlier in an Italian-American household in New Jersey, where family, football and food were at the center of everything.
“It was exactly like probably what you see on TV,” Campanile said. “It was great. It was awesome. Just big family. There was five of us kids.”
Campanile grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Family gatherings were loud and lively, creating memories he still cherishes.
“Oh yeah, it was nuts,” Campanile said. “It was the best. Those are your best memories growing up.”
One tradition remains especially important. Every Sunday and every Thursday his family gathered around a plate of pasta. Today, Campanile continues that tradition with his own family.
“In the offseason I cook sauce every Sunday for my kids whether my wife complains or not,” Campanile said with a laugh. “That’s what we eat on Sunday.”
Like many Italian families, Campanile believes the best red sauce is the one made at home. His grandmother’s recipe had one signature characteristic.
“Our sauce was always a little spicy,” Campanile said. “My grandmother made it a little spicy. There was always a little bit of red pepper, little calabrese pepper in there.”
While Sunday dinners helped shape his upbringing, football was equally ingrained in the Campanile household. Campanile’s father, Mike, coached at Paramus Catholic High School for a decade. His oldest brother, Vito, is the head coach at Bergen Catholic High School. Brother Nunzio serves as offensive coordinator at UConn, while brother Nick is the head coach at DePaul Catholic High School.
“It was awesome. I would not trade my upbringing for anything in the world,” Campanile said. “We grew up running around the field as kids when my dad was coaching.”
Those experiences eventually launched his own coaching career. After playing safety and linebacker at Rutgers from 2001-04, Campanile became a student assistant with the Scarlet Knights in 2005 before coaching at Fair Lawn High School and Don Bosco Prep. During his five seasons at Don Bosco Prep, Campanile helped lead the program to New Jersey state championships in 2010 and 2011. The 2011 squad finished 11-0 and earned a No. 1 national ranking in several polls.
“People always bring that team up,” Campanile said. “We had a great team. We had great players.”
Campanile credits longtime Don Bosco Prep head coach Greg Toal with helping mold his coaching philosophy.
“If you walked into one of our meetings at One Performance Place, you probably hear a lot of the same things that he said to his teams and things that he taught me,” Campanile said. “He had a tremendous effect on me and impact on me as a coach.”
His coaching journey later included stops at Rutgers, Boston College, Michigan, the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers before joining the Jaguars in 2025. But no matter where football has taken him, Campanile says one lesson from his father has remained constant.
“The one thing I really learned in my house and from my dad was interacting with players,” Campanile said. “It was hard not to be able to see how much he loved the guys he was coaching.”
To Campanile, coaching is about much more than schemes and game plans.
“Coaching, if you’re really doing it the right way, is more of a vocation,” Campanile said. “It’s something that you really can’t live without. I think most of us who played football, that’s the first thing we miss - the camaraderie and the love that you have in the locker room.”
And for the New Jersey native, there is one thing he knows for certain. Asked if anything is better than being an Italian from New Jersey, Campanile smiled.
“I think it is the greatest thing in the world,” Campanile said. “I’m biased, but it is what it is. It’s been a great life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”