Dre Bly is making his return to the Lions.
According to the team, Bly has been hired as the team’s new cornerbacks coach after spending the previous four seasons in the same role in North Carolina where he became a rising star especially when it came to recruiting.
Bly enters the NFL coaching ranks after spending the past four seasons as the cornerbacks coach at North Carolina (2019-22). While at UNC, Bly was named Rivals’ ACC Recruiter of the Year for the 2022 class and helped CB Storm Duck earn Second-Team All-ACC honors in 2022 after posting 12 pass defenses and three interceptions. Prior to his stint at North Carolina, Bly started his coaching career as a minority coaching intern with the New Orleans Saints for the 2017 preseason and the Miami Dolphins for the 2018 preseason.
Detroit Lions
Bly was originally a second-round draft pick by the Rams back in 1999 before signing with Detroit as a free agent in 2003. He spent four seasons with the Lions then would have stops in Denver, San Francisco, and Detroit once again where he was cut before the end of the preseason.
In addition to Bly, the Lions also hired Steve Heiden as their new tight ends coach. Heiden comes to Detroit from the Arizona Cardinals where he spent the last 10 seasons under multiple coaching regimes while also taking on multiple coaching roles.
Heiden enters his 11th season as an NFL coach following a 10-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals (2013-22) in various roles. After joining the Cardinals as an assistant special teams/assistant tight ends coach from 2013-17, he served as the assistant offensive line coach in 2018 before overseeing Arizona’s tight ends from 2019-22.
Detroit Lions
Heiden’s hire is an interesting one considering last year’s tight-end coach Tanner Engstrand is still on the staff. However, Engstrand’s name has come up in speculation that he could be reassigned to running backs replacing Duce Staley who left the team to join Frank Reich’s staff in Carolina.