Buccaneers promote Larry Foote to co-defensive coordinator
The buzz around Tampa Bay Buccaneers headquarters on Thursday afternoon was primarily surrounding the departure of head coach Bruce Arians and the introduction of new leader Todd Bowles. The team also announced another significant personnel move, promoting someone Pittsburgh Steelers fans should be plenty familiar with.
After being selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, Foote spent 11 of his 13 seasons with Pittsburgh. The former linebacker helped the team win Super Bowls in early 2006 and 2009, both campaigns that had Arians featured as an assistant coach.
Foote played in all 16 regular-season games for the Steelers each year from 2003 to 2008, and only once (2013) did he appear in fewer than 14 contests. Foote had a strong stretch from 2004 to 2007 where he recorded at least 70 tackles, 3.0 sacks and two passes defended in every season.
The Michigan product played the 2009 campaign with the Detroit Lions but returned to Pittsburgh from 2010 to 2013, before closing his career in 2014 with the Arizona Cardinals, again competing under then-head coach Arians. Foote recorded career-highs in tackles (113), sacks (4.0) and fumble recoveries (two) with the Steelers in 2012.
Since his retirement as a player, Foote has spent time as a linebackers coach with Cardinals (2015-2018) and the Buccaneers (2019-2022).
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