When you’re a Super Bowl-winning team, you’re going to receive all types of press and accolades. So it should be no surprise that Bucs’ defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers has been named the NFL’s 2020 Defensive Line Coach Of The Year.
Rodgers won the John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach Of The Year award after being voted as the league’s No. 1 defensive line coach by his peers. The award is named after Teerlinck, a defensive line coach in the NFL from 1989-2011. He is widely considered one of the best defensive line coaches of all-time. Teerlinck passed away in May of 2020.
He was responsible for the development of players such as John Randle, Robert Mathis, Dwight Freeney, Kevin Greene, Chris Doleman, Neil Smith, and Al “Bubba” Baker. All of the aforementioned players finished their careers with 100+ sacks and three of them are in the Hall Of Fame.
Rodgers’ defensive line led the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, tied for the fourth-most sacks, and finished with the sixth-best adjusted sack rate last year. Per Sports Info Solutions, the unit was responsible for the 10th-most sacks and eighth-most quarterback knockdowns among players listed as either defensive tackle or defensive end.
Rodgers is entering his third year as the Bucs’ defensive line coach. He began his NFL coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys and then coached in Miami for seven seasons before joining Todd Bowles with the Jets in 2015. The 18-year veteran followed Bowles to Tampa Bay in 2019 and the rest is history.
Congrats, Coach Rodgers! Here’s to bringing home the gold again in 2021!
h/t to Carmen Vitali of Buccaneers.com for the story
