Joe Lombardi

Who is Joe Lombardi?

Joe Lombardi is the current offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was hired away from the New Orleans Saints, where he had been quarterbacks coach, on January 21, 2014.

Lombardi joined the Saints as an offensive assistant in 2007, and became quarterbacks coach before the Saints' Super Bowl winning 2009 season. During Lombardi's time in New Orleans, starting quarterback Drew Brees set numerous passing records, including passing for more than 5,000 yards four times, and setting the record for the most passing yards in a single season. Before the Saints, Lombardi was a defensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons.

Before coaching in the NFL, Lombardi coached at Mercyhurst College, Bucknell University, the Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Dayton. He coached for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen during the one year of the XFL. Lombardi played tight end and also played lacrosse while attending the United States Air Force Academy, from which he graduated in 1994.

Lombardi is the grandson of Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi. He was born in 1971, the year after his grandfather died. He won the Super Bowl trophy named for his grandfather after winning the Super Bowl in 2010. In that Super Bowl, the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts, then led by head coach Jim Caldwell, who later hired Lombardi after becoming the new head coach in Detroit in 2014.