Daren Bates enters his first season as a special teams assistant for the Carolina Panthers after serving as a coaches assistant last year for the Seattle Seahawks (Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship). Bates transitioned into coaching after playing nine seasons in the league (St. Louis, 2013-15; Oakland, 2016; Tennessee, 2017-20; Atlanta, 2021).
Originally signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent, Bates appeared in 125 games and saw most of his action primarily as a special teams player. Bates tallied 79 career tackles, with 63 coming on special teams. His 63 special teams tackles over his nine year career (2013-21) ranked 11th in the NFL during that time span.
Prior to his NFL career, Bates played at Auburn University from 2009-12 where he recorded 316 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. In 2009, he was named Freshman All-SEC and second-team and Freshman All-American after having started all 13 games at safety and totaled 70 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. As a sophomore he appeared in 12 games with nine starts and tallied 48 tackles as the Auburn Tigers went on to win the National Championship.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Bates attended Olive Branch High School. Bates is the father of three daughters, Kaeto, Kamea and Kavea.
