Jets announce Def Coordinator and ST Coordinator

Todd Bowles and the Jets have filled their coordinator roster today with the hiring of Kacy Rodgers as Bowles' defensive coordinator and Bobby April Jr. as the new special teams coordinator. They join Chan Gailey, named earlier this week as the Green & White's offensive coordinator.

It's no surprise that Bowles and Rodgers are reuniting on the Jets. They're longtime friends who are now starting their eighth season of coaching together.

April's name is familiar, too. He's a longtime NFL special teams guru and also the father of Bobby April III, the linebackers coach on the 2014 Jets.

Kacy Rodgers, Defensive Coordinator

Rodgers and Bowles worked together on Bill Parcells' Dallas staff in 2005. They were Cowboys for three seasons, then stayed together on Tony Sparano's Miami Dolphins staff for the four years after that.

Perhaps most significant, wherever the two have coached, strong defenses have emerged.

Take these five major defensive categories: total yards allowed, rush yards allowed, pass yards allowed, points allowed and sacks by. In the past 12 seasons, including those seven with Bowles, Rodgers has helped develop an NFL top-10 unit in at least one of those five categories in every one of those seasons.

And from 2008-14, his entire tenure with Miami, Rodgers' Dolphins D-lines have contributed strongly to 287 sacks, third-most in the NFL in that span behind only Minnesota and Philadelphia.

Sweet music, no doubt, to top performers Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, David Harris, Demario Davis, Damon Harrison and the rest of the members of the Jets "D".

Before the pros, Rodgers coached D-line at Tennessee-Martin, Louisiana-Monroe and Middle Tennessee State. He also rose to assistant head coach at UT-Martin (1997) and MTSU (2000-01).

As a Tennessee DE/LB, Kacy played in three consecutive New Year's Day bowl games — the 1990 Cotton Bowl Classic, '91 Sugar Bowl and '92 Fiesta Bowl. He was an undrafted free agent who went to training camp with the Steelers in 1992 and also played football in Louisiana (the Shreveport Pirates) for a Canadian league (the CFL) in 1994.

Bobby April, Special Teams Coordinator

The well-traveled April will be coaching on his eighth NFL team with the Jets. He previously spent time coordinating the specialists on the Raiders the past two seasons, then before that the Eagles (2010-12, with Bowles on the '12 staff), Bills ('04-09), Rams ('01-03), Saints (1996-99), Steelers ('94-95) and Falcons ('91-93).

He won two Special Teams Coach of the Year awards, in 2004 and '08 with the Bills.

Before April's pro coaching experience came his college work, at Ohio State, Southern Cal, Arizona, Tulane and Southern Miss.

The native of New Orleans played four seasons at linebacker for Nicholls State from 1972-76.