With the departure of Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, and Terrell Williams, the Lions are on the lookout for new coaches. They have found their newest Defensive Line Coach, hiring former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive Line Coach Kacy Rodgers.

BACKGROUND:

Rodgers started his career as a player, playing his college ball at Tennessee. He then played in the CFL before retiring from playing in 1994. He then started his coaching career at Tennesee-Martin, bouncing around the college ranks a bit. He coached at Louisiana Monroe for 1 year, Middle Tennessee State for 2, and ended his college coaching career in Arkansas in 2002.

His NFL coaching career began in Dallas, where he started as the Defensive Tackles coach from ’03 to ’04. He was then promoted to Defensive Line Coach where he stayed from ’05 to ’07, the Cowboys had a top 10 rushing defense in 5 of 6 of those seasons.

He was then hired by the Dolphins in the same position, where he stayed from ’08 to ’14. Over that span, Miami had the 3rd most sacks in the entire NFL. Cameron Wake was a 3 time All-Pro, and was 3rd in the NFL in sacks from ’09 to ’14.

Rodgers took his talents to Jersey after he was hired by the Jets, this time as a Defensive Coordinator, where he stayed from ’15 to ’18. While he was there, the Jets had one of the best run defenses in the NFL, ranking 2nd in ’15, and 11th in ’16. They took a bit of a dip in ’17 and ’18, which didn’t help Bowles’ chances of staying. Leonard Williams had the 5th most QB hits among interior defensive line from ’15 to ’18 as well.

When Bowles was fired, Rodgers was too. They then joined forces again the next year, in Tampa Bay, where he would stay until today when the Lions hired him away. In year one, the Bucs had the #1 rushing defense in the entire NFL, limiting teams to just 3.26 yards per carry and a putrid 73.8 rushing yards per game, the least allowed since 2014, when the Lions allowed just 69.3 yards per game. They followed that up with another #1 finish against the run, this time allowing only 3.6 yards per carry, and only 80.6 yards per game. They would finish 3rd in ’21, 15th in ’22, 5th in ’23, and 4th in ’24. It’s safe to say he knows how to stop the run, finishing in the top 5 against the run in 5 of 6 seasons. Not only that, though, as Tampa set a record for sacks in ’19 with 47, and then broke it again in ’20 with 48. Veteran Defensive Lineman William Gholston had a career high in QB hits, and veteran Defensive Tackle Ndomakung Suh had his best sack total since 2015. In 2020, Rodgers was given the ‘John Teerlick Defensive Line Coach Of The Year Award’ as voted on by his peers, meaning the rest of the NFL saw him as the premier guy at his position. That year, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl behind that elite rush defense. In the Super Bowl, they shut out the Chiefs, and broke a Super Bowl record with 29 pressures. If you remember that game like I do, Patrick Mahomes was getting absolutely mauled every play. As far as rushing the passer goes, the Buccaneers finished 7th in ’19, 4th in ’20, 7th in ’21, 7th in ’22, 9th in ’23, and 6th in ’24. Absolutely elite across that span. That’s top 10 in sacks every single year he was in Tampa. I know you’re salivating a bit just reading that.

With all of that being said, I think it is clear the Lions got themselves a good one. Whether it be against the run, or getting to the quarterback, Rodgers knows how to coach his guys up. Remember he was able to be top 10 in sacks every year with Tampa Bay, with Shaq Barrett as their premier pass rusher. That’s not a knock, as Barrett once led the NFL in sacks with 19.5 in 2019, but he didn’t have another player in the top 10 in sacks since. His best was Jason Pierre-Paul in 2020, where he finished 11th with 9.5 sacks. Barrett’s best season after 2019 was in 2021 when he finished with just 10 sacks. So even without the elite production from Barrett, they sustained success as a team. Rodgers really gets the best he can out of his guys. He could make a huge difference in Detroit.

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