The day after Terrell Williams left to become the New England Patriots defensive coordinator, the Detroit Lions have his replacement. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Lions are hiring Kacy Rodgers as their new defensive line coach.
Rodgers has spent the last six seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the first three as defensive line coach and the last three with run game coordinator adding to that duty. The success of Tampa Bay's defensive line is a credit to him.
In 2020, Rodgers won the John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach of the Year award, given to the NFL’s top defensive line coach (as voted by NFL coaches). This season the Buccaneers finished tied for sixth in sacks (46) and fourth in run defense (97.8 yards/game).
So assuming he takes the same title Williams had with the Lions, defensive line coach and run game coordinator, it'll be a lateral move for him after his contract with the Buccaneers expired.
The 55-year old Rodgers started coaching at the collegiate level in 1994, and he has been in the NFL since 2003. He's mostly coached defensive line, with four seasons (2015-2018) as defensive coordinator for the New York Jets to start his run working under Todd Bowles for the last several years.
Kacy Rodgers shares a coaching influence with Dan Campbell
Rodgers first NFL coaching job was with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, under head coach Bill Parcells. For his first three seasons there, Lions head coach Dan Campbell was a tight end for Dallas.
Rodgers later served as the defensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2008-2014. Campbell got his start in coaching as an intern for the Dolphins in 2010, before becoming tight ends coach with his finishing stint as interim head coach in 2015.
Rodgers easily made some lists of candidates to replace Aaron Glenn as the Lions' defensive coordinator due to his past tie to Campbell, and he interviewed for the Green Bay Packers' defensive line coach job.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network suggested there would be a "robust market" for Rodgers' services. So while he may be a little slower to hire new coordinators, Campbell knew he had to move quickly to get his easily presumed top candidate to replace Williams. And among the choices he had or could've had, Rodgers chose the Lions and to work with Campbell again.