Joe Lombardi


Joseph Philip Lombardi is an American football coach and former player, who is the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions from 2014 to 2015. He is the grandson of Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi.

Career

A 1994 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Lombardi played tight end for the Falcons under head coach Fisher DeBerry. He lettered three seasons and started as a senior; he also lettered a season in lacrosse. He served his four-year on active duty in the Air Force, the last two years of which he juggled his football and Air Force schedules as he was a volunteer coach at Dayton.
Prior to coaching in the NFL, Lombardi coached at the college level at Mercyhurst University, 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 was a defensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 under head coach Jim Mora.
Lombardi joined the Saints as an offensive assistant in 2007, and became the quarterbacks coach before the Saints' Super Bowl winning season of 2009. During his time in New Orleans, starting quarterback Drew Brees set numerous passing records, including passing for more than 5,000 yards five times, and setting the record for the most passing yards in a single season.
Lombardi was offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions from 2014 to 2015. On October 26, 2015, he was fired by the Lions, along with several other members of the coaching staff, after a 1–6 start to the season. He was re-hired by the New Orleans Saints to his original position.
He is the grandson of Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, who died the year before he was born, and son of Vince Lombardi, Jr. The youngest of four siblings, Lombardi also lived in Washington, New York, and Michigan. Lombardi played high school football at Seattle Prep, and graduated in 1990.
Lombardi and his wife Molly have six children: three sons and three daughters. The family is Catholic.