The Tennessee Titans hired Lori Locust as defensive quality control coach this past week, making her the first full-time female coach in franchise history.
Locust spent the past four years as an assistant defensive line coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and her coaching experience extends all the way back to 2008 after her playing career ended due to a knee injury.
For the Titans, Locust will be tasked with helping coach Ryan Crow and the outside linebackers.
In a press conference following the announcement, Vrabel lauded Locust for her football knowledge and believes she’ll be a valuable addition to the staff.
“I thought her knowledge was excellent,” Vrabel said, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “I enjoyed the meetings we were able to have at the Senior Bowl… She’ll primarily start out working with the outside linebackers. Her and [OLBs coach] Ryan Crow will make a great team and he’ll help her as she transitions to working with the outside linebackers.”
Locust’s coaching experience has been primarily with defensive linemen, but she did coach linebackers on the staff of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the Indoor Football League from 2017-18.
The Titans have an uncertain situation at outside linebacker going into 2023.
Bud Dupree is likely to get cut, Harold Landry is coming off a torn ACL, and the only other outside linebacker on the roster is 2021 fourth-round pick, Rashad Weaver, who the jury is still very much out on.
