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).

Early years

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

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

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

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

References

External links

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching bio

Further reading

• 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.