Lori Locust (born 1964) is an American football coach who is a defensive quality control coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL).
| Tennessee Titans | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive quality control coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | 1964 (age 59–60) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Susquehanna Township (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) |
| College: | Temple |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Early years
editLocust was born in 1964 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] She grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[2] She graduated from Susquehanna Township High School in 1982, and attended Temple University for two years before leaving to tend to her ill father.[1]
Playing career
editLocust joined a semi-professional women's football team in 2004 as a defensive lineman.[1] In her fourth season for the Central PA Vipers, she was named team captain and MVP, but retired after the next season due to a knee injury.[1]
Coaching career
editLocust coached the Vipers after retiring from her playing career with the team.[1] She was also hired as an assistant coach at Susquehanna Township High School in 2009,[1] and coached there until 2018.[3] A men's semi-professional football team, the Central Penn Piranha, hired her as an assistant coach in 2013.[1] She coached with the Central Penn Capitals of American Indoor Football in 2016.[2] She became the defensive line and linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator for the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the National Arena League in 2017.[1] In 2018, she was a defensive line coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens during their training camp.[1] The Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football hired her as their assistant defensive line coach for the 2019 season before the league folded.[1]
Locust was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their assistant defensive line coach in March 2019 under head coach Bruce Arians.[1] She became the first female position coach in the NFL and third female full-time assistant coach in NFL history, after Kathryn Smith and Katie Sowers.[1] Locust and assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar became the first female coaches to win a Super Bowl when the Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021.[4]
On February 5, 2023, the Tennessee Titans hired Locust as a defensive assistant. The hiring made Locust Tennessee's first full-time female coach in franchise history.[5]
Personal
editLocust married, and later divorced, Andrew Locust, who played college football for Temple, and they had two children together.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Fitzpatrick, Frank (June 17, 2019). "Philly-born Temple product Lori Locust makes history as a female NFL coach even if that wasn't her goal". Inquirer.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Groller, Keith (April 16, 2017). "Steelhawks assistant coach Lori Locust is a woman making her mark in a man's world". MCall.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ Stroud, Rick (March 20, 2019). "Bucs become first NFL team with two female coaches on staff". TampaBay.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Bucs' Maral Javadifar, Lori Locust 1st female coaches to win Super Bowl". NFL.com. Associated Press. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Titans hire Lori Locust as defensive assistant, franchises's first full-time female coach". usatoday.com. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
External links
editFurther reading
edit- Encina, Eduardo A. (May 1, 2019). "Bucs female assistants blazed different paths to success". TampaBay.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- Faiello, Mari (June 25, 2020). "Bucs assistant coach Lori Locust isn't interested in labels". TampaBay.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.