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).

Lori Locust
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:
Career highlights and awards

Early years

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Locust 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

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Locust 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

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Locust 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

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Locust married, and later divorced, Andrew Locust, who played college football for Temple, and they had two children together.[1]

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Stroud, Rick (March 20, 2019). "Bucs become first NFL team with two female coaches on staff". TampaBay.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Bucs' Maral Javadifar, Lori Locust 1st female coaches to win Super Bowl". NFL.com. Associated Press. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "Titans hire Lori Locust as defensive assistant, franchises's first full-time female coach". usatoday.com. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
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Further reading

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