Danny Amendola Says He’s Coaching Witney Carson’s Son in Football

Danny Amendola, Witney Carson. Disney/Eric McCandless

As Danny Amendola and Witney Carson’s time on season 33 of Dancing With the Stars rolls on, Amendola is also gaining some experience as a football coach.

The former NFL wide receiver, 39, is coaching Carson’s sports-obsessed son, Leo, Carson revealed to Us Weekly.

“He loves to dance, and he loves music. But he also loves anything with a ball,” said Carson, 31. “So if we give him anything, like a football, a baseball, anything, he is obsessed. … I just don’t want him to get hurt. So I might have to stop the football route if he tries to do that.”

The mom of two conceded that she’s more comfortable with Leo, 3, trying football as long as Amendola is there to help him.

“Whatever they want to do, it’s fine with me. As long as Danny’s his coach,” she said.

Amendola confirmed that he was working with Leo and added that he is coaching him to play the same way he did.

“If he’s going to be a football player, he’ll have some sweet feet,” Amendola added.

Amendola played 13 seasons in the NFL with five different teams. The two-time Super Bowl champion finished his career with more than 600 career receptions and was named to the New England Patriots’ all-2010s team. He’s now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders’ coaching staff.

Disney/Andrew Eccles

Amendola also told Us that this week’s episode, the 500th in series history, was especially challenging. He and Carson had to learn five dances and figure out how to incorporate a prop — in this case, a hat — into their routine.

“This week was unique for us because we got to really go over all the stuff we learned throughout the whole season so far, really,” he said. “We went over all our dances just in case something would come up. We could utilize it. We emphasized communication heavily within that five minutes in preparation for the dance itself. And it ended up working out.”

And much like game week in the NFL, a lot of that preparation revolved around running drills.

“We put a lot of emphasis on that during the week. We did a lot of hat-catching drills,” he said. “And then she just portrayed the message that when you have a prop, you really [have] to utilize it properly. And it was fun.”

Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. You can stream episodes on Disney+ the next day.

With reporting by Carly Konsker