Early years

Born in Portland, Oregon, Nussmeier is a 1989 graduate of Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, a suburb south of Portland. He did not start at quarterback for the Pacers until his senior season.

College career

Though he followed Pac-10 quarterbacks Erik Wilhelm and Jason Palumbis at Lakeridge, the left-handed Nussmeier was not recruited by the conference. He played college football at Idaho under John L. Smith, and won the 1993 Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the Division I-AA player of the year. That year, Nussmeier threw a school-record 33 touchdown passes, leading the Vandals to an 11-3 record and the national semi-finals. During his final two seasons at Idaho (1992-93), the offensive coordinator was Scott Linehan, later an NFL offensive coordinator and head coach. Linehan was the Vandals' starting quarterback for three seasons (1984-86). A four-year starter at quarterback, Nussmeier succeeded John Friesz, another Walter Payton Award winner in 1989, Nussmeier's redshirt season.

As a fifth-year senior in 1993, Nussmeier had a QB rating of 172.2 - completing 185-of-304 throws (.609) for 2,960 yards and a school-record 33 touchdowns. Nussmeier still ranks among the NCAA I-AA all-time leaders in passing (No. 9 with 10,824 career yards) and total offense (No. 10 at 309.1 yards per game). He is one of only five quarterbacks in NCAA history to throw for at least 10,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards (1,230), joining Alcorn State's Steve McNair (1991-94), Central Florida's Daunte Culpepper (1996-98), Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour (2006-09), and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick (2007-10). Nussmeier set Vandal career records for passing yards, TD passes (91), passing efficiency (175.2), completion percentage (.609, 746-1,225) and total offense (12,054 yards; 308.4 yards per game).

Nussmeier earned his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Idaho in 1994.

Pro career

Nussmeier was selected by the Saints in the fourth round of the 1994 NFL Draft, 116th overall. He was the fourth quarterback selected, behind first round selections Heath Shuler and Trent Dilfer.

Nussmeier was a reserve quarterback in the NFL for five seasons in the mid-1990s, spending four years with the New Orleans Saints (1994-97) and one with the Indianapolis Colts (1998). During that time, he played in only eight regular-season NFL games, and threw for only one touchdown while throwing four interceptions. In 1998, Nussmeier spent part of training camp with the Denver Broncos, but was released prior to the regular season and picked up by the Colts. He is one of only 32 left-handed quarterbacks to play in the NFL.

Nussmeier finished his playing career with the BC Lions of the CFL in 2000, and stayed with the organization as the quarterbacks coach for 2001.

Career NFL passing statistics

• 8 Games
• 82 Attempts
• 46 Completions
• 56.1 Completion percentage
• 455 Yards
• 1 Touchdown (to WR Terry Guess in 1996)
• 4 Interceptions

Coaching

After coaching the quarterbacks for the BC Lions in 2001, he became the quarterbacks coach and de facto offensive coordinator of the Ottawa Renegades in 2002. He was the quarterbacks coach for John L. Smith, his college head coach, at Michigan State for three seasons (2003-05) before moving on to the NFL, where he was the quarterbacks coach under head coach Scott Linehan for the St. Louis Rams for two seasons (2006-07). He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fresno State for a season in 2008, then was hired in the same capacity at Washington in Seattle in early 2009. His annual salary at UW was just under $300,000.

On January 18, 2012, Nussmeier was announced as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide, replacing outgoing coordinator Jim McElwain. Under his guidance, junior quarterback A. J. McCarron set the school record for touchdowns in a season with 26. McCarron threw an additional four touchdowns in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game against Notre Dame in a 42-14 victory, which allowed McCarron to set another school record for career touchdown passes.

On January 9, 2014, Nussmeier was hired by the University of Michigan, following the firing of Al Borges.

On December 23, 2014, Nussmeier was hired by the University of Florida.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]