Jay Rodgers enters his first season as the run game coordinator/defensive line coach for the Chargers in 2022. He transitions back to tutoring the defensive line, a position he's coached for nine NFL seasons, after serving as the run game coordinator/outside linebackers coach for the Bolts last season. Rodgers is a former recipient of the John Teerlinck Award, which is annually given to the NFL's top defensive line coach.
In Rodgers' first season with the Bolts, the outside linebacker group posted 19.5 of the team's 35 total sacks. A team-best 10.5 of those takedowns came from outside linebacker Joey Bosa, who was named to his fourth career Pro Bowl and third in as many seasons after recording 20 quarterback hits and leading the NFL with seven strip-sacks. Under Rodgers, outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu set a career-high with five sacks and eight tackles for loss.
Before coming to the City of Angels, Rodgers spent six seasons (2015-20) with the Chicago Bears, directing a defensive front that routinely was part of a top-ranked defensive unit. In 2018, Chicago boasted the NFL's top run defense (80.0) while holding opponents to a league-low 17.7 points per game. The unit was led by defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, who earned second-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press and his first Pro Bowl nod. Under Rodgers' tutelage from 2016-20, Hicks recorded the seventh-most sacks by an interior defensive lineman in the NFL (27.5), despite missing most of the 2019 season.
Rodgers joined the Bears after a six-year tenure (2009-14) with the Denver Broncos. He was part of a staff that saw the team make four-straight postseason appearances from 2011-14, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLVIII following the 2013 season. Over his three years (2012-14) as the defensive line coach, Rodgers' unit helped the Broncos defense lead the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (90.8). In 2012, defensive end Elvis Dumervil was named to his third career Pro Bowl as the defensive front helped the defense record a league-best 52 sacks. Rodgers began his time with Denver as a coaching assistant in 2009 and a defensive quality control coach from 2010-11.
A native of Austin, Texas, Rodgers is an alum of Westlake High School. As a college player, he logged 15 starts at quarterback at Indiana University from 1996-98, before transferring to Missouri State for the 1999 season. In his lone season as Missouri State's signal-caller, Rodgers was a team captain and was voted the team's most valuable player in a season where he set a number of the program's single-season passing records. Rodgers earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana before working as a recruiting assistant at Ohio State University in 2000.
Rodgers entered the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Louisiana State University from 2001-02. His spent his first season working with the offensive staff, as the 2001 Tigers won the Southeastern Conference and defeated Illinois in the Sugar Bowl. Rodgers then assisted the defensive staff for the 2002 season before moving to Dodge City (Kan.) Community College in 2003 as passing game coordinator while also serving as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. Following his season at Dodge City, Rodgers returned to Missouri State, spending the 2004 season as the quarterbacks coach. He then coached the position for two seasons (2005-06) at Stephen F. Austin and, in his final stop before the NFL, coached wide receivers from 2007-08 at Iowa State.
Rodgers and his wife, Melissa, have three children. Rodgers' brother, Jeff, is the assistant head coach/special teams coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. The two coached together four seasons (2011-14) with the Denver Broncos and three seasons (2015-17) with the Chicago Bears.
