Kacy Rodgers enters his second season with the Lions as run game coordinator/defensive line coach in 2026. He brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to Detroit.
In 2025, Rodgers led the defensive line unit as the team produced the second-most sacks (49.0) the Lions have ever recorded in a single season. The team's 49.0 sacks ranked tied-for-fourth in the NFL, while its 133 missed tackles led the League, per PFF. Under his direction, the group allowed the fewest rushing yards after contact per rush (2.41) and the second-fewest total rushing yards after contact allowed (1,077).
He guided 2025 Second-Team AP All-Pro EDGE Aidan Hutchinson (14.5) and EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad (11.0) to set career-highs in sacks, as they became one-of-two duos in the NFL to each record at least 11.0 sacks in 2025. It marked only the second time in franchise history and first since 1983 that a set of teammates both posted 11.0 sacks in a season.
Prior to Detroit, Rodgers spent six seasons (2019-24) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching the defensive line, adding in run game coordinator duties in 2022. Over that span, the Buccaneers allowed the fewest rushing yards per carry (3.98), rushing yards per game (93.8) and total rushing yards (9,378) in the League, while also recording the second-highest run stuff percentage (10.6) and allowing the third-fewest rushing touchdowns (68) in the NFL. Tampa Bay finished as a top five run defense in five out of six seasons with Rodgers on staff.
He also played a critical role in the emergence of NT Vita Vea throughout his time with the Buccaneers. Under Rodgers' tutelage, Vea led all NFL nose tackles in tackles for loss (37), sacks (27.5) and run stuffs (14.5), and tied for the most pass defenses (seven) and second-most forced fumbles (three). He earned two Pro Bowl berths in 2021 and 2024.
In 2024, Rodgers' unit ranked first in the League allowing 2.48 rushing yards per play and fourth with 82.0 rushing yards allowed per game. While Vea led all nose tackles with 7.0 sacks, he combined with DT Calijah Kancey to be one-of-three interior tackle duos in the NFL to have at least 5.0 sacks each. The group finished the year ranked fifth in run defense for the second-straight season and tied an NFL record by holding three-straight opponents to under 40 yards on the ground (Weeks 15-17).
Tampa Bay kept their opponents to 95.3 rush yards per contest and 4.0 yards per carry in 2023. In the red zone, the Buccaneers led the league in tackles for loss (25), while ranking tied for second in red zone touchdowns allowed (23), second in sacks (8.0) and fifth in fewest yards per play against (2.3). With Rodgers' oversight in 2022, Tampa Bay ranked second in three-and-outs and fifth in fewest first downs allowed per game (18.5). In 2021, Rodgers coached Vea to his first-career Pro Bowl, working with a top three run defense that led the NFL in quarterback hits (123).
Rodgers earned the distinction of John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach of the Year in 2020, an award given annually to the League's top defensive line coach as voted on by coaches across the League. He led a Super-Bowl winning defensive line unit that led the NFL against the run for the second consecutive season, limiting opponents to 80.6 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry in the regular season. Tampa Bay held its opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards an NFL-best 12 times in 2020. In Super Bowl LV, the Buccaneers defense kept the Chiefs offense out of the end zone, while tallying a Super Bowl-record 29 quarterback pressures.
Additionally, the Buccaneers tallied 48.0 regular season sacks in 2020 – the second-most in team history – and 58.0 total sacks between the regular season and postseason combined, which tied for the NFL lead. Under Rodgers' guidance, veteran DL William Gholston had a career-high 20 quarterback hits in 2020, the sixth-most in the NFL by an interior defensive lineman in 2020. DT Ndamukong Suh also recorded 6.0 sacks in 2020, his most in a season since 2015, and 19 quarterback hits, which ranked tied for seventh-most by an interior defensive lineman.
Under Rodgers' watch, the defensive line set the foundation for the NFL's top run defense, which limited its opponents to 73.8 rushing yards per game and 3.26 yards per carry in 2019. In his 10th NFL season, Suh posted single-season career highs with four fumble recoveries (43 return yards) and two defensive touchdowns. His four fumble recoveries tied for the second-most in a single season in team history. Additionally, the defensive line helped the Buccaneers defense to 47 sacks in 2019, which was the second highest single-season sack total in team history.
Rodgers spent four seasons serving as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets (2015-18). The Jets unit under Rodgers posted one of the best run defenses in the NFL, holding teams to just 4.00 yards per carry, the sixth-lowest figure in the NFL during that span, and allowing only 44 rushing touchdowns, tied for the eighth-least in that timeframe. Rodgers helped DL Muhammad Wilkerson earn a Pro Bowl berth in 2015, after posting a career-high 12.0 sacks, and helped DL Leonard Williams – the team's 2015 first-round pick – earn a Pro Bowl berth in 2016.
Before working with the Jets, Rodgers spent seven seasons coaching the defensive line in Miami (2008-14). During his time with the Dolphins, the team posted 287 sacks, the third-highest mark in the NFL, while allowing the eighth-fewest yards per carry (4.02) during that span. Rodgers helped guide DT Paul Soliai (2011), DT Randy Starks (2010, 2012) and DE Cameron Wake (2010, 2012-14) to Pro Bowl selections. Wake, who also earned three AP All-Pro selections under Rodgers (First-Team, 2012; Second-Team 2010 and 2014), ranked third in the NFL in sacks from 2009-14, with 63.0.
Rodgers began his NFL coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys, first working as the team's defensive tackles coach (2003-04) before taking over as the defensive line coach (2005-07). In four of Rodgers' five seasons in Dallas, the team ranked inside the NFL's top 10 for rush defense. He coached DT La'Roi Glover to three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 2003-05.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Rodgers coached collegiately, first working at Tennessee-Martin (1994-97) before going to Louisiana-Monroe (1998), Middle Tennessee State (1999-2001) and Arkansas (2002). A native of Humboldt, Tenn., Rodgers played collegiately at Tennessee. He spent training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992 and played for the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League in 1994 before retiring. Rodgers was inducted into the Gibson County Hall of Fame in 2004 and later the Humboldt Hall of Fame in 2018. He is the father to Kacy Rodgers II and grandfather to Kali and Aspen Rodgers.
