Indianapolis — Brian Duker and Dre Bly are, by most definitions, different flavors.
And that’s exactly what Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn wanted for his defensive backs this season.
Duker, heading into his third season with Detroit, was officially promoted in February to defensive backs coach, a role he assumed in the short term last season after Aubrey Pleasant was fired. Bly, a former 11-year NFL veteran who spent four years (2003-06) in Detroit, joined Dan Campbell’s staff at the beginning of last month to coach cornerbacks.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how (Bly) and Duker operate in that room, because you have two personalities,” Glenn said. “Two totally different personalities.”
This was, Glenn said, by design. Duker will be the “cerebral” part of the pairing, while Bly will lean on his experience as a two-time Pro-Bowler and his understanding of the game’s emotions. While describing the attitude he looks for in players at the Combine, he joked that if he were to interview a young Bly, he would “definitely know” they are cut from the same cloth.
“I’ve been with Duker since our time in Cleveland, so I know him really, really well,” Glenn said. “And then, the next guy I know I wanted to bring in was somebody that can really show and let these corners know, ‘This is how a corner operates.'”
Duker saw his role increase when Detroit fired Pleasant, following a 31-27 loss to Miami in Week 8. The team had allowed a 69.4% completion percentage and 108.5 passer rating to that point. In the 10 games that followed, the Lions went 8-2, while allowing only a 58.7% completion percentage and a passer rating of 84.3.
Bly retired from playing after the 2009 season. He had served as the cornerbacks coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, from 2019-22. His role with the Lions is his first official NFL gig.
“He has it. He has it, and he’s fun. He’s energetic,” Glenn said of Bly. “He has this aura, swagger about him that I know for a fact is gonna seep into all our guys, and I think that’s a really good mix, when you have a guy like Duker and then you have Dre, so I’m looking forward to seeing all those guys operate.”
‘My tribe’: New DL coach speaks Glenn’s language
Bly isn’t the only new position coach in Allen Park. Along with hiring assistant head coach/running backs coach Scottie Montgomery to replace the departed Duce Staley, the Lions had to fill another void leaving for Carolina when Todd Wash bolted last month.
Wash’s replacement comes in the form of John Scott, who previously held the same role — plus the position of defensive run-game coordinator — at Penn State, where he spent three seasons. According to Glenn, he and Scott go back nearly a decade.
“He was a defensive assistant (in New York) under (current Buccaneers defensive line coach) Kacy Rodgers. Kacy’s definitely from my tribe — he is a gap-and-a-half, hit blocks, you see exactly what Tampa’s doing with their front — and (Scott) grew up, he cut his teeth learning that way,” Glenn said.
This will be Scott’s first NFL role as a team’s primary position coach. His previous stint in the NFL lasted two years: He was a defensive quality control coach with the Jets in 2015 and an assistant defensive line coach in 2016.
“I think the good thing about when you go through the process of interviewing guys, you get a chance to talk to let them talk, for the most part,” Glenn said. “… to the core of him, (he holds) the same beliefs that I believe in, and when you have that, you can easily be able to coach guys on what you actually want.
“So, he is a guy from our tribe. And he’s been doing a heck of a job.”
The curious case of Jeff Okudah
Though the Lions’ secondary had an excellent second half of last season, it came without anybody at either cornerback position truly having a breakout stretch or establishing himself as elite.
That’s not an indictment on the players; rather, it’s a simple observation as the Lions try to figure out what to do with the fifth-year option Jeff Okudah, who’s being paid like a top-3 player in his draft class, while carrying the developmental trajectory of … well, a player of another caliber.
Granted, Okudah battled injuries his rookie year and missed the entirety of his sophomore season because of a torn Achilles. In his third year, he showed flashes of potential. He wasn’t elite — or even ‘great’ — by any means, but he took steps forward indeed, and considering the severity of his injury caused some to wonder if he’d ever be able to play corner again, that’s a plus.
“That’s the life of a corner. I wish it could be all rosy at that position,” Glenn said. “I hate just saying he’s a young player, but he is a young player. And he still has a ways to go.”
With two first-round picks, the projections like the Lions to take a corner with one of their high picks in this upcoming draft. Some even think they’ll take two in the early rounds. Still, all of that is mere fodder until the draft takes place.
What matters in the meantime is that Glenn wouldn’t commit to Okudah being one of Detroit’s cornerstones on the defense. Even though he qualified his statement by saying it applies to all of his defensive players, it’s hard to imagine him saying this about a guy who actually looks like he’ll be elite down-to-down, such as Aidan Hutchinson.
“He understands there’s always going to be competition. And we’re always going to create that competition, regardless of who we have. But, yes, he has to improve. I will say that, along with everybody else on our defense,” Glenn said.
“And he knows that, and he did improve. But there is always going to be peaks and valleys when you play that position. You try to stay at the top as much as you can. But, it’s hard. It’s hard. But, I’ll tell you what, he is busting his butt. He’s trying his butt off to be at that top of the peak all the time.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi