NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has tabbed people in the league to form a list of young coaches to watch now or in the future, and a Lions assistant has made the cut.
The Detroit Lions are in the first-year of a rebuild, with a first-year head coach and a first-year general manager. In a hypothetical stock market, some pieces of the organization would qualify as “buy low” right now, with hope for the future.
For the fifth time, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero used conversations with people in the league to make a list of young coaches to watch. Over the previous four cycles, nearly half of all the head total head coaching hires in the league (14 of 27) came from that year’s list, per Pelissero, which focuses on candidates who are 45 years old or younger and seeking their first NFL head coaching opportunity.
After a chunk of candidates tabbed as “Candidates this year”, there’s a lengthy list of “Others to watch in coming years.” Lions defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant made the cut for that latter criteria.
Aubrey Pleasant coaching resume
Pleasant is in his first season as Lions defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator. Prior to that, he was cornerbacks coach for the Los Angeles Ram for four seasons (2017-2020). Before that, he spent four seasons on the coaching staff of the Washington Football Team (then the Redskins), the last three (2014-2016) as a defensive quality control coach. His first season on an NFL coaching staff was 2013 as an intern with the Cleveland Browns, preceded by two seasons on staff at the University of Michigan (2011-2012) and one season as a high school coach (2010).
Pleasant never played in the NFL after a solid collegiate playing career at the University of Wisconsin.
Pleasant made some headlines right away, as FOX cameras captured he and cornerback Jeff Okudah having a heated exchange on the sideline Week 1 against the 49ers. Lions’ players and coaches were on his side after that moment, but Pleasant also acknowledged what he learned from it.
"“Perception is reality at times. I also learned that I communicate very well and sometimes I don’t always have to do it in that nature, to say the least.”"
This is what coaching is: Lions DBs coach Aubrey Pleasant and Jeff Okudah had a passionate sideline teaching moment early in the game that went viral. Later, after Okudah gave up a 79-yard TD, Pleasant coached him up with love. 📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/kiaVAtW741
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 13, 2021
Pleasant will likely have to climb to a defensive coordinator post, and have success there, before he becomes an NFL head coach. But he’s certainly on the rise, and the league as a whole is noticing him for all the right reasons.
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