John Timu (American football)

John Sesoga Timu (born August 27, 1992) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is a defensive assistant coach of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Washington before signing with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He also played one season for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football.

Early life
Born and raised in Long Beach, California to Samoan American parents, Timu attended Jordan High School in Long Beach. Rated the 61st overall safety prospect by scout.com, Timu committed to Washington, where he played linebacker from 2011 to 2014. He played in 51 games at Washington, recording 328 tackles, 4 sacks, 6 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. Timu was voted honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference following his senior season in 2014 after he recorded 108 tackles, 2 pass breakups, 2 interceptions and one defensive touchdown.

Professional career
On May 2, 2015, Timu signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent following the conclusion of the 2015 NFL draft. On October 6, 2015, Timu was cut from the team. However, days later, he was resigned to the practice squad. On December 15, 2015, Timu was promoted to the 53-man roster. Timu recorded his first career fumble recovery (Timu had a second one in the same game for a career high of two fumble recoveries) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 27, 2015. He ended the year with 25 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

On September 3, 2016, Timu was released by the Bears as part of final roster cuts. He was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 27, 2016.

On September 2, 2017, Timu was waived by the Bears and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 23, 2017.

On March 20, 2018, Timu re-signed with the Bears. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Timu was signed by the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) on March 13, 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

University of Washington Huskies
In September 2019, Timu retired from playing football and was hired by Washington head coach Chris Petersen to start his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma matter.

Los Angeles Chargers
After spending two years as a graduate assistant for Washington, Timu was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 as a coaching fellow, assisting with the defensive staff, particularly the defensive line and linebackers. This move reunited Timu with former Chicago Bears outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley, who was in his first year as the Chargers head coach. Timu was promoted to defensive assistant in 2022, and promoted again to assistant defensive line coach in 2023.

Atlanta Falcons
On February 3, 2024, TIMU was hired to be a defensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons. Timu joins Jay Rodgers who was hired as the Falcons defensive line coach after previously being the defensive run game coordinator/defensive line coach for the Chargers.