Temple University Athletics
NFL’s Newest Full-Time Female Coaching Hire Has Deep Temple Roots
3.21.19 | Football
On March 20, 2019, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head football coach Bruce Arians announced they added Lori Locust as assistant defensive line coach and Maral Javadifar as assistant strength and conditioning coach. The Buccaneers became the first National Football League team with two female coaches on staff.
Arians pledged to hire female assistants during a forum at the Super Bowl in Atlanta, but has been working toward this for years. He brought Jen Welter in as an intern in 2015 when he was coaching the Cardinals, and now has a pair of female coaches on his staff on a full-time basis.
"I know how hard it can be to get that first opportunity to coach at the highest level of professional football," said Arians. "Sometimes, all you need is the right organization to offer up the opportunity. The Glazer family and our general manager, Jason Licht, were extremely supportive of my decision, and I know Maral and Lori will be great additions to my coaching staff."
Arians was the Temple head coach from 1983-88 when he first met Locust, a Temple University graduate. Locust's ex-husband, Andrew Locust, played for the Owls from 1982-84.
"I have known Lori going back to my days at Temple University and I've seen first-hand just how knowledgeable and passionate she is about this game."
"I packed up what little of my life I brought with me, and now I'm somewhere on I-75 with another hour to go," Locust told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times from her Toyota Corolla. "It's surreal, it really is, and I mean in some ways, to me, it's just knowing that I have to be ready to go to work."
Locust joined the Buccaneers after working as the defensive line coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football during the league's inaugural season this spring. In 2018, Locust served as a defensive coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens during the team's training camp and, from 2017-18, worked as a defensive line/linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the National Arena League.
A native of Harrisburg, Pa., Locust graduated from Susquehanna Township High School, where she worked as an assistant coach from 2010-2018. She also held roles as an assistant coach with the Central Penn Piranha, a semi-professional team in Harrisburg from 2013-16, the DMV Elite semi-professional team from 2016-18 and the Keystone Assault of the Women's Football Alliance from 2017-18.
Locust began her coaching career following four years as a player in women's semi-professional football when an injury forced her to the sidelines.
"No one has ever treated me as anything but as a coach," Locust once said. "Players are able to see through somebody who's not being authentic. I can talk to them about scheme and when I played. I really don't operate differently than any other coach. I think there's a mutual respect. I certainly respect the players for all the work they put into their craft, and I honor that and they just want to get better at the end of the day."
"When I went into this, it's because I loved football, and opportunities kept being put in my path, thank God, and I was able to take advantage," said Locust to AL.com in February when she began her position with the Birmingham Iron. "For me, I'm looking at it as I'm a coach who happens to be a woman. I'm not a woman who happens to be a coach.
"And I do understand there's responsibilities from a role-modelish standpoint," she continued, "but it's really odd to say it, but I've never thought about in that (trailblazer) perspective. I just want to be a coach. I just want coach and set a good example based on my knowledge and have a good reputation so that when other coaches ask about me, I get the same favorable response a man would in the same position."
Without a playing career to fall back on, Locust said she taps into her unique background to find ways to motivate and mentor.
"All of us have different styles," she said. "I think you do have to find ways to motivate people or players. You have to find what that trigger is. You have to know how to draw that out of them. You have to know how to get the best out of all of the players, and this player's level of best might not be the same as the next player's level. But coordinating both of them together will help you win and help them succeed.
"To be brutally honest with you, I think it also comes down to being a parent," said Locust, who has two grown sons. "You do have to find ways constantly to support, to motivate, to lead by example, and hopefully I bring that into position. I've never had a problem -- knock on wood -- with a player or a coach. The programs have brought me have never introduced me or treated me in any other manner than being a coach. So, the respect and the bar are set when I walk in the door."
Arians pledged to hire female assistants during a forum at the Super Bowl in Atlanta, but has been working toward this for years. He brought Jen Welter in as an intern in 2015 when he was coaching the Cardinals, and now has a pair of female coaches on his staff on a full-time basis.
"I know how hard it can be to get that first opportunity to coach at the highest level of professional football," said Arians. "Sometimes, all you need is the right organization to offer up the opportunity. The Glazer family and our general manager, Jason Licht, were extremely supportive of my decision, and I know Maral and Lori will be great additions to my coaching staff."
Arians was the Temple head coach from 1983-88 when he first met Locust, a Temple University graduate. Locust's ex-husband, Andrew Locust, played for the Owls from 1982-84.
"I have known Lori going back to my days at Temple University and I've seen first-hand just how knowledgeable and passionate she is about this game."
"I packed up what little of my life I brought with me, and now I'm somewhere on I-75 with another hour to go," Locust told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times from her Toyota Corolla. "It's surreal, it really is, and I mean in some ways, to me, it's just knowing that I have to be ready to go to work."
Locust joined the Buccaneers after working as the defensive line coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football during the league's inaugural season this spring. In 2018, Locust served as a defensive coaching intern for the Baltimore Ravens during the team's training camp and, from 2017-18, worked as a defensive line/linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the National Arena League.
A native of Harrisburg, Pa., Locust graduated from Susquehanna Township High School, where she worked as an assistant coach from 2010-2018. She also held roles as an assistant coach with the Central Penn Piranha, a semi-professional team in Harrisburg from 2013-16, the DMV Elite semi-professional team from 2016-18 and the Keystone Assault of the Women's Football Alliance from 2017-18.
Locust began her coaching career following four years as a player in women's semi-professional football when an injury forced her to the sidelines.
"No one has ever treated me as anything but as a coach," Locust once said. "Players are able to see through somebody who's not being authentic. I can talk to them about scheme and when I played. I really don't operate differently than any other coach. I think there's a mutual respect. I certainly respect the players for all the work they put into their craft, and I honor that and they just want to get better at the end of the day."
"When I went into this, it's because I loved football, and opportunities kept being put in my path, thank God, and I was able to take advantage," said Locust to AL.com in February when she began her position with the Birmingham Iron. "For me, I'm looking at it as I'm a coach who happens to be a woman. I'm not a woman who happens to be a coach.
"And I do understand there's responsibilities from a role-modelish standpoint," she continued, "but it's really odd to say it, but I've never thought about in that (trailblazer) perspective. I just want to be a coach. I just want coach and set a good example based on my knowledge and have a good reputation so that when other coaches ask about me, I get the same favorable response a man would in the same position."
Without a playing career to fall back on, Locust said she taps into her unique background to find ways to motivate and mentor.
"All of us have different styles," she said. "I think you do have to find ways to motivate people or players. You have to find what that trigger is. You have to know how to draw that out of them. You have to know how to get the best out of all of the players, and this player's level of best might not be the same as the next player's level. But coordinating both of them together will help you win and help them succeed.
"To be brutally honest with you, I think it also comes down to being a parent," said Locust, who has two grown sons. "You do have to find ways constantly to support, to motivate, to lead by example, and hopefully I bring that into position. I've never had a problem -- knock on wood -- with a player or a coach. The programs have brought me have never introduced me or treated me in any other manner than being a coach. So, the respect and the bar are set when I walk in the door."
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