Report: Detroit Lions hire Deshea Townsend as defensive passing game coordinator/CB coach
The Detroit Lions coaching staff for the 2024 season is rounding into place.
The Lions are hiring Deshea Townsend, 48, as the defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach, according to reports from Bleacher Report and NBC Sports. Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz first reported the hiring as the passing game coordinator, while NBC's Mike Florio reported that he will be coaching cornerbacks as well.
For clarity, Deshea Townsend is a defensive coach, so his hiring has no bearing on Tanner Engstrom’s position in Detroit. https://t.co/NBy2lfWWNU
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 8, 2024
Townsend spent the last two seasons as the defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars and previously worked coaching defensive backs for the Chicago Bears (2019-21), New York Giants (2018), Tennessee Titans (2016-17), and Arizona Cardinals (2011-12) as well as a brief pit stop with Mississippi State in college. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion from his time as a defensive back with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1998-2009.
He will try to help deliver better performances from the Lions' secondary in 2024. This past season, Detroit ranked 27th in the regular season in passing yards allowed (247.4 passing yards allowed per game) and finished the season giving up over 300 passing yards in the final three regular-season games and two of the three playoff games. The Jaguars finished just above the Lions at 26th in passing yards allowed (239.8 passing yards allowed per game) and 28th in 2022 (238.5 passing yards allowed per game). The Jaguars had 14 interceptions in 2022, tied for 12th in the NFL, and 16 in 2023, tied with the Lions and Steelers for 11th in the league.
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The Lions currently have two coaches working with defensive backs on the staff already in cornerbacks coach Dre Bly and defensive backs coach Brian Duker. It has not been reported whether Townsend will be working alongside them or replacing one. Townsend is the second defensive coach hired this offseason, joining Terrell Williams who was hired as the defensive line coach and assistant head coach last week. The biggest coaching news for Detroit already happened this offseason after they retained both coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, despite interest in both for head coaching positions.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Report: Detroit Lions hire Deshea Townsend to coach cornerbacks
