Lions got 'one of us' in new defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers

Richard Silva, The Detroit News on Feb 28, 2025

Published in Football

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INDIANAPOLIS — Losing Terrell Williams, who Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell routinely called the best defensive line coach in the league, wasn't ideal.

But his replacement, if the numbers are any indication, isn't too shabby, either.

The Lions announced Kacy Rodgers as their new defensive line coach and run-game coordinator this month. Rodgers comes to Detroit after spending the last six seasons in Tampa Bay, helping the Buccaneers have one of the NFL's best fronts; in all but one year of Rodgers' tenure (2022), the team finished as a top-five unit in fewest rushing yards allowed per game.

Tampa Bay, which was a top-10 defense in sacks every season under Rodgers, brought the quarterback down an average of 47 times from 2019-24; the Buccaneers were impressively consistent here, with every year seeing them have between 45-48 sacks.

"They're getting a heck of a coach," Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday of the Lions bringing in Rodgers. "He understands football inside (and) out. ... He's like a brother to me. (He) understands the game very well. Dan's been with us in Dallas and Miami, so they know each other already. So, he should be fine there. They're going to get a very smart coach; a very tough coach; a very disciplined coach."

Rodgers coached defensive tackles with the Cowboys from 2003-04, two years that overlapped with Campbell's time as a player in Dallas. Campbell and Rodgers were also together with the Dolphins from 2011-14, when the former coached tight ends and the latter worked with the defensive line.

"I've seen him coach. I know what he's like," Campbell said. "I know what the D-line is like with him coaching them. I've always thought really highly of him. ... When I knew there was a chance to get him (and) he was going to be available, it just made sense. I think he's going to be great for our D-line."

Rodgers and new Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard have some crossover, too. Sheppard was a player with the Dolphins in 2014, so Rodgers got a firsthand look at his personality.

Still, Sheppard, 37, was humbled by Rodgers' decision to come to Detroit and work under him. He plans to lean on Rodgers' experience: "(Rodgers thought), 'Shep's the guy? I'm coming.' Like, whoa," Sheppard said in a recent interview with FOX 2. "That's how he felt about me? He's seen me as a player down in Miami down in 2014. But from the coaching realm, (he) didn't know, really."

The Lions had the fourth-best run defense in the league in 2024 (97.8 yards per game allowed), and they ranked 23rd in sacks (37).

"I think (Aidan Hutchinson) and those guys are going to really like him and gravitate to him," Campbell said of Rodgers. "And he's one of us; he's about doing it the right way. Hard worker; sees the game well; understands scheme really well, and then he knows the fundamentals and grinds on those guys."

Dippre not a stranger to Hutchinson

Asked to identify the toughest players he's ever played against, Alabama tight end CJ Dippre said two names: Penn State's Abdul Carter, who could potentially go No. 1 overall in April's draft, and former Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

Dippre, then a freshman at Maryland, played 19 snaps in a 2021 game against the Wolverines. One of his reps featured the Terrapins running split zone, and Dippre was tasked with stopping Hutchinson, now a star for the Lions, from making the play. Dippre succeeded, but he had to go low to do it.

"We all knew he was going to be a first-rounder. ... It was definitely scary," Dippre said of Hutchinson. "... Cutting was still legal then, so I wasn't going to hit him up high. Dude was an animal. I went to a cut, and I felt so bad. I went to the sideline and someone was like, 'Yo, what if you took out his knee?'

"I felt so bad. ... I (direct messaged) him like, 'Yo, bro, I'm sorry for trying to cut you.' It was crazy."

Hutchinson, perhaps never seeing the message, didn't respond.

Dippre also has a connection to Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, who was in his final year at Alabama when the tight end transferred to the Crimson Tide: "Just a great kid. He's always happy, always smiling; kind of brings a different life to the party," Dippre said of Arnold. "He's just someone to be around. He's like a nice person to be around. (He) definitely knows when it's business time. Great athlete, great football player."

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