Tag: Lori Locust

Titans’ Mike Vrabel talks hiring of Lori Locust

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel lauded Locust for her knowledge and revealed she’ll be working with the outside linebackers.

The Tennessee Titans hired Lori Locust as defensive quality control coach this past week, making her the first full-time female coach in franchise history.

Locust spent the past four years as an assistant defensive line coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and her coaching experience extends all the way back to 2008 after her playing career ended due to a knee injury.

For the Titans, Locust will be tasked with helping coach Ryan Crow and the outside linebackers.

In a press conference following the announcement, Vrabel lauded Locust for her football knowledge and believes she’ll be a valuable addition to the staff.

“I thought her knowledge was excellent,” Vrabel said, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “I enjoyed the meetings we were able to have at the Senior Bowl… She’ll primarily start out working with the outside linebackers. Her and [OLBs coach] Ryan Crow will make a great team and he’ll help her as she transitions to working with the outside linebackers.”

Locust’s coaching experience has been primarily with defensive linemen, but she did coach linebackers on the staff of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the Indoor Football League from 2017-18.

The Titans have an uncertain situation at outside linebacker going into 2023.

Bud Dupree is likely to get cut, Harold Landry is coming off a torn ACL, and the only other outside linebacker on the roster is 2021 fourth-round pick, Rashad Weaver, who the jury is still very much out on.

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Getting to know Titans’ recent coaching-staff hires

The Titans made several new additions to their coaching staff this week. Here’s some more information on each.

The Tennessee Titans made several changes to their coaching staff recently, with the hire of new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly leading the way as the most notable.

Tennessee not only hired a handful of new coaches, the team also re-assigned others to new positions. Here’s a full rundown of the newest additions:

-Tim Kelly hired as offensive coordinator.

-Charles London hired as QBs coach/offensive pass-game coordinator

-Chris Harris hired as CBs coach/defensive pass-game coordinator

-Lori Locust, Justin Hamilton hired as defensive quality control coaches

Now, a look at which coaches changed spots:

-Pat O’Hara from QBs coach to pass-game analyst

-Tony Dews from RBs coach to TEs coach

-Luke Steckel from TEs coach to run-game analyst

-Jason Houghtaling from assistant OL coach to OL coach

In all that shuffling, the Titans did not name a new running backs coach, but that position should be filled in due time.

Since we’re mostly familiar with the latter four, let’s turn our attention to the newbies coming to Nashville in 2023, with the exception of Kelly, who we already did a bit deeper of a dive on here.

I’d also highly suggest checking out this article on Kelly from Broadway Sports Media’s Zach Lyons. It’s one of the most comprehensive deep dives you’ll find on Kelly on the internet.

Now, more information on the newest coaches.

What Mike Vrabel said about Tim Kelly as OC, other staff changes

What Mike Vrabel had to say about the Titans’ hire of Tim Kelly as OC, and the rest of the coaching staff shake-up.

Just hours after the Tennessee Titans announced the hiring of passing-game coordinator Tim Kelly as offensive coordinator, along with other staff moves, head coach Mike Vrabel met with the media to discuss the decisions.

On top of promoting Kelly, the Titans hired Charles London as offensive pass-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Chris Harris as defensive pass-game coordinator and cornerbacks coach, and Lori Locust and Justin Hamilton as defensive quality control coaches.

Tennessee also shuffled coaches from last year’s staff, moving Pat O’Hara from quarterbacks coach to pass-game analyst, Luke Steckel from tight ends to run-game analyst, and Tony Dews from running backs to tight ends.

As of right now, the Titans have yet to hire someone to take Dews’ place, but as Vrabel revealed during the presser, the staff is about 95 percent filled, so more hires are coming.

Now, a look at everything Vrabel had to say about the coaching staff shake-up that was announced on Tuesday.

What new Titans assistant Lori Locust’s role will be

What new Titans assistant Lori Locust’s role will be

On Saturday, the Tennessee Titans made franchise history by hiring their first full-time female coach in Lori Locust, who previously spent four years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an assistant defensive line coach.

When the news broke, it was reported Locust was a defensive assistant, but we didn’t get any specifics on how exactly she’ll be helping out.

However, we now have a good idea of what her role will be.

According to her Twitter bio, Locust will work as a defensive quality control coach. Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky gave us more specifics, reporting that Locust would work with coach Ryan Crow and the outside linebackers.

This is a different role than the one Locust saw in Tampa Bay, where she worked with defensive linemen.

That said, there is some overlap between the two positions in Tennessee, as we’ve seen a guy like Denico Autry be deployed at outside linebacker in recent years.

Outside linebacker isn’t getting a ton of attention with the issues on the offensive side of the ball, but will be a position to keep an eye on this offseason.

The Titans are expected to cut Bud Dupree, leaving Rashad Weaver and Harold Landry as the only notable players at the position under contract.

Landry is coming off a torn ACL and the jury is still out on Weaver as a starter, leaving Tennessee with a fairly questionable situation going into 2023.

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Former Bucs assistant Lori Locust joins Titans’ coaching staff

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust has quickly found a new landing spot with the Tennessee Titans

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant Lori Locust has already found a new home in the NFL coaching ranks.

Locust, the Bucs’ former assistant defensive line coach, will join the Tennessee Titans’ staff as a defensive assistant, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

A former defensive line player herself, Locust transitioned into coaching back in 2008, getting her first NFL experience as an intern for the Baltimore Ravens in 2018.

She joined Bruce Arians’ staff full-time as a defensive assistant in 2019, and helped lead one of the NFL’s most dominant defensive fronts over the next four seasons, a run that included a Super Bowl win in 2020.

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Titans hiring ex-Bucs coach Lori Locust as defensive assistant

The Titans are reportedly hiring former Bucs assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust.

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly making history by adding former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust to their defensive coaching staff.

The news comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who notes that Locust will be taking a defensive assistant role on head coach Mike Vrabel’s staff. She is the first full-time female coach in team history.

On her Twitter bio, Locust lists her position with the team as defensive quality control coach.

Coaching since 2008, Locust first broke into the NFL in 2018 as an intern for the Baltimore Ravens.

Then, after serving as the assistant defensive line coach in the AAF, Locust joined the Bucs for four seasons, where she became one of the two first full-time female coaches in franchise history.

The Bucs were also the first team in NFL history to have two full-time female coaches on staff.

Prior to her coaching career, Locust joined a women’s league at the age of 40, playing along the defensive line. She played for four seasons before a knee injury ended her career.

But the time on the sideline helped Locust fall in love with coaching, as she told the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud in 2019.

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