A college head coach throughout the 2010s, Charlie Strong had settled on the analyst level recently. He spent his second tour of duty at Alabama in that role in 2023, but the ex-Louisville, Texas and South Florida HC is heading back to the NFL.
Strong will join Todd Bowles‘ Buccaneers staff as defensive line coach, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This will mark Strong’s second job as an NFL assistant. He was previously on Urban Meyer‘s 2021 Jaguars staff, being in place as inside linebackers coach that season. Long will replace longtime Bowles assistant Kacy Rodgers, whose contract had expired. Rodgers is now with the Lions.
In addition to Strong, the Bucs are adding to their offensive staff. Tampa Bay is hiring Kefense Hynson as its pass-game coordinator, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds. Like Strong, Hynson has spent his career at the college level. Unlike Strong, this will be Hynson’s first NFL gig. He comes over after an extended run as Oregon State’s wide receivers coach.
Strong, 64, stayed one season under Meyer but is better known for his college roles. He submitted 11-2 and 12-1 college seasons, with Teddy Bridgewater at the controls at Louisville during the 2012 and ’13 campaigns, en route to a Texas offer. The successful ACC leader was unable to turn around the Texas program at that point, losing seven games in each of his three seasons running the then-Big 12 program. He fared better to start his South Florida tenure, going 10-2 in 2017, but did not impress over the final two years of that stay and was eventually fired.
Previously serving as defensive coordinator at South Carolina and Florida, Strong has been in coaching since 1983. Hynson started in 2003, becoming a college coordinator (at the Division I-FCS level) by 2007. For the past seven years, Hynson served as pass-game coordinator at Oregon State. He moved up to interim HC in 2023 and was retained under new HC Trent Bray in 2024. Hynson, 44, mentored the likes of Luke Musgrave and Isaiah Hodgins in that time.
This represents another dive into the college ranks for the Bucs, who added Liam Coen from Kentucky last year. Coen had prior NFL experience as an OC, with the Rams in 2022, and has already departed for a head coaching gig. The Bucs promoted Josh Grizzard to take his place. Hynson will work under Grizzard, while Strong will operate as a Bowles lieutenant — for a team that does not employ a traditional defensive coordinator.