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Former LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard is being promoted by the Detroit Lions from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo on Saturday.
The 37-year-old Sheppard will take over for Aaron Glenn, who this week left the Lions to take the head coaching job with the New York Jets. Sheppard continues his meteoric rise through the coaching ranks with the Lions. He’ll be running the Detroit defense in only his fifth season with the franchise after being the outside linebackers coach in 2021 and the linebackers coach the past 3 seasons.
Sheppard entered the NFL coaching world in 2021 with the Lions after playing 8 seasons in the NFL, the last one being for the Lions in 2018. Sheppard was a third-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2011, and he also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Chicago Bears.
Glenn said last month that Sheppard was someone he was mentoring to be a defensive coordinator, and now Sheppard will get that opportunity by succeeding Glenn with the Lions.
Before becoming an NFL assistant with the Lions in 2021, Sheppard was the director of player development at LSU during the 2020 season.
Sheppard was a first-team All-SEC selection for the Tigers in 2010.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
